BREAKING: Hillary Clinton Wins Iowa Caucuses By Razor Thin Margin

Hillary Clinton Beats Bernie Sanders In Historically Close Race With Huge First-Time Turnout

Hillary Clinton has won the Iowa Caucuses for the Democrats. The former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and First Lady narrowly beat the Vermont Senator despite a huge turnout that was nearly half first time caucus goers.

The Huffington Post reports “the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) announced that Clinton was the winner.”

The IDP in a statement early Tuesday morning announced the “results tonight are the closest in Iowa Democratic caucus history.”

“Hillary Clinton has been awarded  699.57 state delegate equivalents,  Bernie Sanders has been awarded 695.49 state delegate equivalents, Martin O’Malley has been awarded 7.68 state delegate equivalents and uncommitted has been awarded .46 state delegate equivalents. We still have outstanding results in one precinct (Des Moines—42), which is worth 2.28 state delegate equivalents.”

Des Moines’ state delegate equivalents (SDEs) would not be enough to put Sanders over Clinton.

Most of the recent polls for Iowa had Clinton beating Sanders by between 3 and 8 points, so clearly Bernie Sanders had a better night than the polls predicted.

Clinton has been running on a platform of embracing and building on President Barack Obama’s legacy, and pushing back on critics by saying she is a progressive who can get things done.

During most of the evening Clinton was ahead by several percentage points, but around 9:30 PM EST the numbers narrowed, and by 10 PM the two candidates were less than one point apart.

At 11 PM there were only 5 SDEs between the two, 633 – 628.

At 11:15, Clinton jumped back up slightly:

At 11:20:

Just before 11:30 Clinton gave a speech without saying she or Sanders won, but saying, “I stand here tonight, breathing a big sigh of relief. Thank you Iowa!”

Shortly thereafter, Sanders gave a speech calling it a “virtual tie”:

A few hours ago the Clinton campaign released a statement declaring victory:

 

This is a breaking news and developing story. Details may change. This story will be updated, and NCRM will likely publish follow-up stories on this news. Stay tuned and refresh for updates.