Democratic, GOP races tight as Iowa kicks off 2016 voting

Ted Cruz and Vermont Sen.

At 7 p.m., the first Americans will caucus for who they want to be the new president. Both Trump and Sanders have comfortable leads over their respective fields, but the results of Monday’s caucuses could lead to a shake-up in what has seemed like a fairly stable contest.

Donald Trump is now more likely than not to win the Republican nomination.

Trump jumped to a 31 to 24 percent lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders just 3 points behind with 42 percent.

But Sanders started organizing late in Iowa, and he, like Cruz, really needs to win Iowa. Sanders’ campaign is also hoping to turn out teens who will be old enough to vote by Election Day. Cruz made hitting all 99 counties a priority early in his campaign.

In Des Moines, Jared Halpern, FOX News.

The possibility of Clinton trying to help O’Malley is an issue because of the rules for the Democratic Iowa caucus, which is set to be held Monday night.

Whatever happens in Iowa, it’s on to New Hampshire next, CNN notes. See: Turnout. A snowfall is expected to begin around the same time as the caucuses, and become heavy enough to become a major winter storm soon after people cast their votes. In 2012, roughly 121,000 Republicans showed up.

“I believe that if we have a large voter turnout, if thousands of people – many of whom who have given up on the political process, many young people who have never participated in the political process – if they come out, we’re going to win”, Sanders said. That puts Clinton in a tough spot.

“Win, lose or draw, I love you folks all”, Trump said at a campaign event.

Seeking to tamp down expectations, Cruz said Sunday that he’s just pleased to be in the mix for first place. Florida Senator Marco Rubio was in third.

Rubio in recent days lashed back at the many attacks aimed in his direction, but adopted the same reflective tone as many of his rivals in the campaign’s final hours, telling NBC that Cruz “has a very strong ground game”.

The campaigns were anxiously keeping an eye on the weather. There is no cost to attend and an individual can show up Monday night and register with the party of his or her choosing. He specifically cited former Senator Rick Santorum, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina. The front-running candidates in New Hampshire from both parties are gaining support from equal numbers of ideologues and moderates. The biggest thing to look at on the Republican side will be turnout. Democrats will gather at 1,100 locations and Republicans at almost 900 spots. Republicans vote on a sheet of paper. And delegates are awarded through a formula based on how candidates do in precincts all over the state.

That determines the number of delegates for each candidate that will be sent to the Democratic National Convention.