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The Biggest Winners And Losers From The Iowa Caucuses

Jeb Bush's wealthy donors probably aren't feeling great.
Nick Visser
By 

Senior Reporter, HuffPost

ROBYN BECK via Getty Images

Tensions soared across the Hawkeye State during Monday's Iowa Caucuses. Polls were thwarted, two candidates ended their run for the presidency and another decided to leave the state all together to get some fresh clothes.

Democratic hopefuls, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) were locked in a dead heat for most of the night, but the real winners and losers of the event were mainly found among the Republicans.

Take a look at some of the results from Iowa as the nation prepares for the primaries in New Hampshire next week.

WINNER: Ted Cruz
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Despite early polling that predicted long-time frontrunner Donald Trump would win the Republican caucus, Cruz surged ahead from the outset. Final tallies put the Texas senator four points ahead of Trump, and five ahead of Marco Rubio in what Vox notes will likely be a shock to the Republican establishment. Cruz heads next to New Hampshire, where the latest polls show him trailing Trump by nearly 22 points.
LOSER: Donald Trump
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The business magnate was perhaps the biggest loser on Monday night, failing to live up to polling results that largely anticipated he'd win in Iowa. In fact, he came out just one point ahead of Marco Rubio. In an out-of-character speech, Trump thanked voters and congratulated Ted Cruz on his win, noting his anticipation for New Hampshire where he's held a much larger margin over other frontrunners.
WINNER: New Voters
Stephen Maturen via Getty Images
Despite the absurdly long campaign cycle thus far, Iowans turned out en masse for Monday's caucuses. The state's Republican Party estimated more than 180,000 people voted for a candidate, compared to the previous record of 121,353 set in 2012. Democratic turnout surpassed the last election, but wasn't as robust as 2008. Some outlets reported lines out the door at several sites.

Thousands of Iowans also registered for the first time as Republicans in the state. The party saw 3,651 newly registered GOP voters between Jan. 4 and Feb. 1, beating new voter registration numbers for the past three elections during the same period.
LOSER: Jeb's Rich Donors
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Despite spending nearly $65 million so far, Right to Rise, the super PAC supporting Jeb Bush saw little return on its investment Monday night. The former Florida governor came in sixth place with a little more than 5,000 votes, which works out to a bit less than one vote per $12,000 in spending. But Bush's super Pac still has $59 million in the bank.
WINNER: Marco Rubio
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rubio's results on Monday reflected growing support for the candidate seen by many GOP leaders as the most in line with the party platform. The Florida senator nearly overtook Donald Trump in the caucuses, noting that "it's probably a three-person race" from here on out. But third place isn't first, and it just means he still has a chance.
LOSER: The Losers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iowa took down at least two low-polling candidates on Monday, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Both announced the suspensions of their campaigns shortly before the official end of the caucuses, following months of poor performance. Huckabee had been relegated to the last several undercard debates and O'Malley hadn't been able to gain more than five percent of voter support since he announced his candidacy.

Many of the other low-pollers lost, hard, on Monday. Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich and Rick Santorum all failed to get more than 4,000 votes apiece.
LOSER: Ben Carson's Laundry Machines
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Inexplicably, Ben Carson was not in Iowa on Monday night, but rather, on his way home to Florida to get some clean clothes. "Dr. Carson has been on the road for 17 days needs fresh clothes," Jason Osborne, the senior communications strategists for the retired neurosurgeon, tweeted on Monday. No word yet on the state of laundry machines in Iowa.
LOSERS: Pollsters Who Predicted A Trump Win
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses, pollsters were pretty muchin agreement that Trump would emerge victorious. In a Des Moines Register poll, the last one before Monday's showdown, Trump was leading Ted Cruz 28% to 23%. Many conservative pundits also predicted a Trump win.
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