Politics | Iowa caucuses Iowa Caucuses: Cruz Wins It And so Election 2016 begins... By Newser Editors Posted Feb 1, 2016 7:07 PM CST Updated Feb 1, 2016 9:35 PM CST Copied Former President Bill Clinton, left, greets supporters at a campaign office for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Ankeny, Iowa, Monday, Feb. 1, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) The doors closed and the Iowa caucuses officially got underway at 7pm local time, with the two leading questions of the night being, quite simply, Trump or Cruz? Sanders or Clinton? The answer on the Republican side came roughly 2.5 hours later: CNN, AP, and NBC News called the race for Ted Cruz by the time 85% of precincts had reported. According to the Des Moines Register, Cruz has 27.65% with more than 99% of precincts in, Trump is on 24.31% and Marco Rubio is more than nipping at his heels with 23.09%. Ben Carson—who is on his way home to Florida for "fresh clothes"—is in fourth with 9.31%, and Rand Paul is fifth with 4.53%. Jeb Bush is in sixth with 2.8%. Among the other GOP candidates, it was the toughest night for Chris Christie, who had just 1.76% of votes, above only Rick Santorum, "undecided," and Jim Gilmore, in that order. According to the Register, only 12 people voted for Gilmore. John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, and Mike Huckabee all ended up below the 2% mark. Read These Next White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. Supreme Court ruling is a big blow to Planned Parenthood. New York Times ranks the best movies of the 21st century. Get breaking news in your inbox. What you need to know, as soon as we know it. Sign up Report an error