Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders in Iowa after a long night of vote counting [Monday, February 1], according to Politico. This was said to be the closest race in the history of the state’s Democratic caucuses.
Clinton had 49.9 percent of delegates and Sanders had 49.6 percent, meanwhile former Maryland Gov. Martin O’ Malley received less than one percent before suspending his campaign. Clinton was awarded 699.57 state delegate equivalents compared to the 695.49 for Sanders. More than 171,109 Democratic voters turned out to caucus.
According to reports, “Shortly after the AP declared her the winner, Clinton went on TV and challenged Sanders to debate her this week in New Hampshire, where the Vermont senator has held a commanding lead in polls ahead of the February 9 primary. ‘We’re in Bernie Sanders’ backyard here in New Hampshire — I sure hope he intends to show up in his neighboring state,’ Clinton told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday afternoon. ‘Let the people of New Hampshire see us both on the debate stage.’”
Clinton led the polls at the start of the caucus, but as the night wore on, the gap between Sanders and Clinton narrowed to less than half a percentage point. Clinton’s campaign sent out a victory statement saying the she was “breathing a sigh of relief.”
