Cruz wins Iowa caucuses, Clinton barely edges Sanders

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won Iowa’s Republican caucuses last night, beating businessman Donald Trump 28 percent to 24 percent, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio receiving 23 percent.
The most drama came in the Democratic caucus. In the caucus, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton garnered 49.9 percent to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 49.6 percent. While the Iowa Democratic Party called the race for Clinton, Sanders declared the race a “virtual tie.”
Two candidates also announced they were suspending their campaigns: Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat who came in a very distant third in the caucus, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won Iowa’s GOP caucus in 2008.
While LGBT issues did not play a deciding role among Iowa Democrats, they were a hot topic among Republicans. Evangelicals and social conservatives dominate the state’s GOP caucuses. Cruz and Trump played a tug of war for the social conservative endorsement. Among vocally anti-LGBT leaders, Cruz had the backing of Bob Vander Plaats of the Family Leader, while Trump earned the endorsement of Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr.
“From threatening to overturn nationwide marriage equality, to campaigning with a notorious ‘kill the gays’ pastor in Iowa, to using transgender Americans as a punchline on the trail, Ted Cruz has spared no opportunity to attack the dignity and rights of LGBT Americans,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
Gregory T. Angelo, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, dalso enounced Cruz’s win.
“Log Cabin Republicans will continue to advocate for a common-sense conservative presidential nominee while ramping up our campaign to make Hillary Clinton’s anti-gay past known. Log Cabin Republicans does not endorse in primary elections, but we encourage all our members to step up as our members in Iowa did today to advocate for a stronger, more inclusive GOP. This presidential race is fluid and far from over,” he said in a statement.
Candidates are now focusing their eyes on New Hampshire’s primary election on Feb. 9.