JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Results are coming in from the nation's first Republican presidential caucus this year, and former President Donald Trump is the winner in Iowa.
A of 11:300 p.m., Former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis were still battling it out for second place.
Gov. DeSantis’ team is telling media he won't be dropping out of the race despite this loss.
The next primary election is in New Hampshire eight days from now, but instead of going there next, DeSantis is hitting the campaign trail in South Carolina Tuesday morning, tackling the state where Haley served as the governor for years.
First Coast News Political Analyst John Daigle said the winner in Iowa doesn't predict who will ultimately get the nomination.
"If you look back historically there, at least in the light in recent history,” Daigle said, “the candidate who wins the Iowa caucus does not go on to win the national election. Ted Cruz beat Trump in 2016, and we all know how that ended up."
NBC polled caucusgoers earlier this week, and results showed 48% favored former President Trump as their first choice to be the next president.
Twenty percent said their second choice would be Haley, and their third choice was DeSantis with 16%.
Daigle said attack ads from competitors might have hurt the governor's campaign.
"If you're looking at spending on political ads, there’s been almost $50 million worth of negative ads placed against Governor DeSantis in Iowa alone,” Daigle said. “I mean, when you look at that number and compare it to the number of voters in that state, it's a crazy number."
DeSantis even earned an endorsement from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and visited all 99 counties in the state.
While the former president disparages him on the campaign trail, Daigle said it’s difficult for DeSantis to do the same thing.
"Governor DeSantis faces the obstacle that every Republican going back to 2016 has faced,” Daigle said. “It's very hard to attack him, and especially in this race because he's got a lock on almost 50% of the Republican voters, insulting him alienates a huge number of Republican voters that you cannot get elected without."
Trump needed 1215 delegates to win tonight, and has over 34,000 as of 10:37 p.m.