Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz speaks at a campaign rally in Des Moines on Sunday. Photo: Yin Bogu/Xinhua Press/Corbis
(VOVworld) - Texas Senator Ted Cruz led 4% ahead Donald Trump on Monday in a surprise victory over his Republican rival in the Iowa caucus. Cruz earned the support of around 28 percent of caucus goers while Donald Trump got about 24 percent of the vote. With the final results barely in, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won in the Iowa caucuses in 2008, declared that he was also dropping out of the 2016 contest.
In the Democrat camp, Vermont senator Sanders trailed the former secretary of state Hillary Clinton 49.9% to 49.6% with more than 88% of the precincts counted.
Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley announced the suspension of his presidential campaign Monday night, following a dismal showing in the Iowa caucuses that effectively ended his long-simmering White House ambitions.