Cruz Defeats Trump In Iowa Caucus; Clinton, Sanders In Virtual Tie
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Sen. Ted Cruz trumped "The Donald" in Iowa.
CBS News projects the Texas senator is the winner of the Republican Iowa caucus.
With 99 percent of the Republican vote in, Sen. Ted Cruz holds a 28 to 24 percent lead over Donald Trump. Sen. Marco Rubio placed a strong third at 23 percent.
"For America is not a special country by accident. America is a great nation because each generation before us did their part. Each generation before us sacrificed, they confronted their challenges, they embraced their opportunities," Rubio told supporters. "And for over two centuries, each generation has left the next better off than themselves. Now has come the time for us to do the same."
Despite finishing second, Trump thanked Iowans for their support and said he was "honored."
"We will go on to get the Republican nomination. We will go on to easily beat Hillary or Bernie or whoever the hell they throw up," the billionaire told supporters.
Trump also joked, "I think I might come here and buy a farm."
Cruz called it a "victory for grassroots" and "victory for courageous conservatives."
"The millions who understand that it is a commitment to the Constitution to our shared insistence we rise and return to a higher standard, the very standard that gave birth to the greatest nation that the world has ever known," Cruz told his supporters. "To the revolutionary understanding that all men and all women are created equal, that our rights do not come from the Democratic Party, or the Republican Party, or even from the Tea Party, our rights come from our creator."
Dr. Ben Carson is in fourth at 10 percent, followed by Sen. Rand Paul at 5 percent. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced on Twitter he is suspending his presidential campaign.
CNN reports Carson is heading home to Florida after the Iowa caucus to "get a fresh set of clothes."
Larry Ross, a spokesman for the Carson campaign, said the retired pediatric neurosurgeon "is not suspending his presidential campaign, which is stronger than ever."
"After spending 18 consecutive days on the campaign trail, Dr. Carson needs to go home and get a fresh set of clothes," Ross told CNN. "He will be departing Des Moines later tonight to avoid the snow storm and will be back on the trail Wednesday. We look forward to tonight's caucus results and to meaningful debates in New Hampshire and South Carolina."
Carson will be attending the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
On the Democratic side, it's a virtual tie. With 94 percent of the vote in, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders are at 50 percent each.
"So as I stand here tonight, breathing a big sigh of relief, thank you, Iowa. I want you to know I will keep doing what I've done my entire life. I will keep standing up for you, I will keep fighting for you, I will always work to achieve the America that I believe in, where the promise of that dream that we hold out to our children and our grandchildren never fades, but inspires generations to come. Join me, let's go win the nomination," Clinton said.
Sanders told supporters that it is "too late for establishment politics" due to the enormous crises facing the U.S.
"The people of Iowa have sent a very profound message to the political establishment," the Vermont senator said.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is barely polling 1 percent in the caucus, is suspending his campaign.
Before Monday night's caucuses, candidates made their final push in Iowa.
Rubio stopped at a Des Moines Cracker Barrel with his kids Monday morning, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is counting on an army of supporters and the support of Evangelicals and conservatives to pull off an upset, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported.
The normally confident Republican frontrunner Donald Trump said he is anxious on his first election night, Kramer reported.
"Well, you have to be a little bit nervous," he told "Good Morning America" on Monday. "I like to win, and I want to win for the country. I don't want to win for myself."
Trump was surrounded on the campaign trail by his family -- including wife Melania and daughter Ivanka.
"People want to see change, and he's going to effectuate that change," Ivanka Trump said. "It's been what he's done his whole life, so my father will undoubtedly make America great again."
Hoping to dampen Trump's momentum, Cruz made his final pitch to Iowa voters Sunday.
"If everyone here brings nine other people to the caucuses [Monday] night, we will win the caucuses [Monday], we will win the nomination, and we will win the general election in November 2016," Cruz said. "The strength of this campaign is over 12,000 volunteers here in the state of Iowa."
During an event in Sioux City, Trump pushed back, labeling Cruz dishonest and deceptive for sending out a flyer to voters that looked like an official document with the title "Voting Violation."
"That is really terrible. It's a fraud as far as I'm concerned," Trump said.
Over the weekend, a swastika was spray-painted on Trump's star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The photograph went viral on Reddit over the weekend.
The Los Angeles Times reports the Nazi symbol was spray-painted on the star on Friday, but was cleaned off soon thereafter.
"The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an institution celebrating the positive contributions of the inductees," Leron Gubler, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's president and CEO, said. "When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways then to vandalize a California state landmark."
Republican Party officials say they expect a record turnout Monday, and that may bode well for Trump.
The key to victory may be first-time caucusgoers. Trump leads Cruz 40 to 22 percent among first-timers, but Cruz gets 26 percent to Trump's 25 among those who have participated before.
"If it's big on the Republican side, that means these first-time voters that like Donald Trump have come out and turned out to caucus," CBS News Political Director John Dickerson said.
Democrat Bernie Sanders is also counting on first-time voters.
Hillary Rodham Clinton lost Iowa during her presidential bid in 2008 and is now looking for redemption.
"I'm a little bit scarred up, but I'm still standing, and I think that kind of experience will really do me well in this campaign," Clinton told "CBS This Morning."
Political analysts said this time around the former secretary of state is working on her likability, CBS2's Marlie Hall reported.
"She's focused a lot on her relationships with people. She's focused a little bit more on middle-class issues," Iowa State University Professor Kelly Winfrey said.
Sanders said turnout is everything for him.
"We need tens of millions of people to stand up and say loudly and clearly enough is enough," he said.
Clinton, who said her ground game included contacting some 125,000 people, brought coffee and donuts to her volunteers Monday.
"So excited about tonight," she told them. "I'm feeling so energized because of all of you."
But earlier on "CBS This Morning," she said, "I'm a little bit scarred up, but I'm still standing, and I think that kind of experience will really do me well in this campaign."
Unlike a traditional primary, where voting goes on all day, voting in an Iowa caucus begins at 7 p.m.
"Frankly, if you have to work or you're sick, you're out of luck,"election lawyer and Fordham law Professor Jerry Goldfeder told WCBS 880's Alex Silverman.
Another difference is that on the Democratic side, voters have to stand up and declare publicly who they're supporting.
"That's really against the time-honored tradition we have where we really cherish our secret ballot," Goldfeder said.
Also, if any candidate doesn't have 15 percent, they can go to a different corner, meaning initial Martin O'Malley voters could have an impact if the race between Clinton and Sanders is as tight as the polls show.
There is a secret ballot on the Republican side.
Forecasters are calling for snow in parts on the state, which could have an impact on voter turnout. Goldfeder said when it's cold, elderly voters tend to stay home.
