Thousands of Iowans will flock to precincts in sub-zero temperatures tonight to support their Republican presidential candidate in the caucuses.
The voting will begin at 7pm Central Time (8pm Eastern Time) in the first official event of the GOP race for the White House.
Donald Trump enters as the favorite with a resounding 28-point lead in the latest poll.
Follow DailyMail.com’s live coverage of the build-up to the blockbuster night.
After more than a year of campaigning, the Republicans vying to be president will finally face a vote tonight.
Thousands in Iowa will brave the dangerous sub-zero temperatures to support their candidates in the first contest of the GOP primary.
DailyMail.com will have continous coverage of all the developments throughout the day, before voting begins at 7pm Central Time. (8pm ET).
Here is everything you need to know about what will happen.
A deadly Arctic blast that has put 100 million Americans under a weather warning is sweeping across the U.S. as Iowans head to their caucus sites on Monday night.
The bitter cold has already killed four people, including an Oregon woman who died when a fire spread from an open-flame stove after a tree fell on to her RV.
In the Dakotas and Montana, forecasters predict a wind chill of minus 70, which can cause frostbite almost instantly.
Officials have implored members of the public to remain home. Similar temperatures will be felt from the Northern Rockies all the way to Kansas. In the northeast, blinding snow has brought the region to an almost standstill.
In Buffalo, New York where snowfall of 1 to 2 feet was forecast, severe conditions saw thundersnow – a bizarre phenomenon in which thunder and lightning occur during a snowstorm.
Nikki Haley makes final pitch to voters in Iowa: ‘The tone at the top matters’ and ‘our best days are yet to come’
‘The tone at the top matters. The ability to get things done matters,’ Haley told Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy.
‘We don’t need to have four more years of chaos,’ she continued.
‘I’m an accountant, I know what it takes to get the economy back on track. I’ve been a two-term governor that took double digit unemployment state and turned into a power house.’
‘I dealt with Russia, China, North Korea everyday. This is a chance to reset. We can do this. If you will join with me and caucus, I promise you, our best days are yet to come,’ she said in a direct appeal to Iowan voters.
Trump is still on course for a record-breaking win. He commands 48 percent support in the poll (down three from December), with Haley on 20 (up four points), and DeSantis on 16 percent (down three).
Haley is intent on a strong second place finish. She is challenging Trump in the next state, New Hampshire, and she and DeSantis are fighting for the right to be crowned the best alternative to the former president and knock the other out.
Vivek Ramaswamy reveals he ran into a snow DITCH in freezing cold Iowa
2024 hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy ran into a ditch while en route to Des Moines.
‘Just got back to Des Moines after a 5+ hour drive in snow from northwest Iowa,’ he wrote on X.
‘Got stuck in snow ditch on the way. 5 of us tried to push SUV out, finally got it done with extra help from a good Iowan. Our next 7 events will continue as planned, starting at 9am in Coralville,’ he said on the social media platform.
The candidate made a final pitch to caucus goers on Fox & Friends Monday morning saying he will ‘fight corruption’ and ‘speak the truth.’
‘If you want somebody who will shut down that deep state and revive national identity for next generation, I am asking you to brave the cold and caucus for me tonight and save this country and we’re grateful for this process.’
Biden campaign ‘excited for the fight ahead’ and ‘closely’ watching what happens Iowa as it prepares to battle Trump
The Biden campaign is already gearing up for a general election battle and will be ‘closely’ watching the results of the Iowa caucus.
Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said the campaign was ‘excited for the fight ahead’ during an appearance on CNN This Morning.
Tyler said the campaign is ‘eady to provide the American people with the stark contrast between the president, who’s fighting for more freedom and more democracy, and these MAGA extremists led by Donald Trump, who want to tear down the fabric of American democracy.
‘We’ve been gearing up for that fight since launch in April 2023, and we’re scaling up our operation right now, to meet the moment meet the challenge presented by Donald Trump and the threat that he represents to American democracy.’
Trump says a ‘vote for Vivek is a wasted vote’ as he ramps up attacks on rival Ramaswamy
Donald Trump said backing Vivek Ramaswamy in the Iowa caucus would be a ‘wasted vote’ as he ramped up attacks on his Republican rival.
The former president has changed his tune on the biotech entrepreneur, who is running fourth in the polls.
He has accused Ramaswamy of ‘deceitful campaign tricks’ in the build-up to the first Republican primary contest.
On Monday monring, he sent out an all-caps message on Truth Social.
A VOTE FOR VIVEK IS A WASTED VOTE. I LIKE VIVEK, BUT HE PLAYED IT TOO “CUTE” WITH US. CAUCUS TONIGHT, VOTE FOR DONALD J. TRUMP, BUILD UP THE NUMBERS!!! IN NOVEMBER, WE MUST TAKE OUR VERY TROUBLED NATION — A NATION IN DECLINE — BACK FROM CROOKED JOE BIDEN AND THE RADICAL LEFT DEMOCRATS AND THUGS WHO ARE DESTROYING IT. MAGA!!!
A foot of snow and sub-zero temperatures are not going to stop Eli Weltman from knocking on his 22,385th door of the campaign.
His Ariat cowboy boots disappear into the fresh snowfall as the 20-year-old Californian makes his way from sidewalk to doorstep in Marion, a small city in eastern Iowa.
Laura Scherbaum, 39, opens the door and listens to his 30-second pitch, describing how he is working for Never Back Down, an independent group backing Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican primary.
It is a win. She fills in one of his ‘commit to caucus’ forms and says she will turn out on Monday to give her support to the Florida governor as he seeks the Republican nomination to take on Joe Biden in the presidential election.
It seems a long time ago that DeSantis was a rising star and the frontrunner to win the race. In Iowa, the first state to choose its preferred nominee, polls now put him about thirty points behind Donald Trump.
But the super PAC Never Back Down is all in. If it can’t win the state for DeSantis, then it is trying to use its huge fundraising machine and ground game to deliver him to a strong second place finish, cementing him as the best alternative to Trump.
And with more snow coming and temperatures forecast for as low as minus 7F on Monday, anything could still happen if people stay home.
Do Iowa’s voters actually predict who will become president?
The short answer is no.
Since the caucuses got their modern start in 1972, they’ve only correctly predicted who would win the presidency three times when an incumbent wasn’t on the ballot.
The first time came in 1976, when a peanut farmer turned Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter won the state for the Democrats.
Carter wasn’t well known, but his efforts in Iowa catapulted him to the White House, where he served one term after beating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford, who took over after President Richard Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal.
The only time the caucuses picked a Republican president happened in 2000, when Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the son of former President George H.W. Bush, handily won the Iowa caucuses.
Iowans tend to vote for more conservative candidates – like Bush – so the candidate who became the Texas governor’s chief rival, Sen. John McCain, focused more of his attention on winning the New Hampshire primary, which he did.
