The Republican presidential primary is set to kick off tonight when Iowans caucus tonight to select their preferred nominee.
The Iowa Caucus has traditionally started the Republican primary calendar and provided a stage for presidential hopefuls to connect with voters and make an early statement in their pursuit of the White House.
This year’s Iowa Caucus has proven no different, despite overwhelming polling data showing that former President Donald Trump is expected to coast to victory over his opponents.
Trump lost the Iowa Caucus during his first run for the Republican Presidential Nomination in 2016 to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Trump was able to consolidate support in succeeding primary elections before defeating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election to become the 45th president of the United States.
Now, Trump is facing off against a small cadre of popular Republican candidates as he seeks to avenge his loss to current President Joe Biden in the 2020 general election.
RealClearPolitics’ aggregation of Iowa Caucus polling from the past two weeks shows that Trump is leading the field with 52.5% of the expected vote. He is followed by former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who stands with an average of 18.8%, and by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who clocked in with 15.7%. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy is projected to finish a distant fourth place with 6.8% support in the polls.
Polling is not an exact science and has been proven wrong in Iowa in the past. Sen. Cruz outperformed polling in 2016 with a stunning and narrow victory over Trump in the Iowa Caucus prior to the latter’s march to the nomination later that spring. Still, Trump’s 33.7% polling lead points to a comfortable victory for the former president.
A Trump victory in the Iowa Caucus may trigger a constitutional crisis as the former president faces multiple criminal indictments. Trump is the first former president in U.S. history to face indictment, and with a win in Iowa, he would become the first presidential candidate to win a primary while facing criminal indictment.
Although legal battles continue to rage around the former president, a victory in the Iowa Caucus would make it plain that GOP voters intend to nominate him as the leader of one of the U.S.’s major political parties despite the allegations levied against him and the pending constitutional questions surrounding his right to serve in office if convicted.
The Dallas Express will update readers with results and the projected winner after the Iowa Caucus, which begins Monday at 7 p.m. CT.