Hillary Clinton Wins Six Iowa Precincts on a Coin Flip

Ted Cruz of Texas won the Iowa Republican caucus in an upset with 28 percent of the precincts, followed by real estate magnate Donald Trump at 24 percent and Sen.

State Democratic party chair Andy McGuire called the results “the closest in Iowa Democratic caucus history” in a statement announcing the final tally.

The official announcement of Clinton’s win capped a nail-biting 12-hour stretch that left the outcome of the Democratic caucuses hanging in the balance.

A coin toss was used to decide whether Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders won at six precincts in the Iowa caucus.

“I’m so thrilled to be coming to New Hampshire after winning Iowa”, she told hundreds of supports at Nashua Community College.

Sanders had hoped to replicate Obama’s pathway to the presidency by using a victory in Iowa to catapult his passion and ideals of “democratic socialism” deep into the primaries. Bernie Sanders by the thinnest of margins.

Earlier opinion polls showed that reality TV star Trump held small lead over his close rival Cruz.

There were 11 Republican candidates standing in Iowa. “They told me that we have no chance because my hair wasn’t gray enough and my boots were too high”. And he vowed to keep up his fight, telling cheering supporters that “we will go on to easily beat Hillary or Bernie or whoever the hell they throw up”. We face an uphill battle in New Hampshire – Senator Sanders has home field advantage, and he’s already outspent us by more than $2 million on television there….

“I have a sense that the Clinton machine is going to be pretty tough once you get into the mainstream (primary states)”.

Anti-establishment overtones also were apparent on the Republican side, where Cruz claimed a more resounding victory in the state.

Even though a victory in Iowa could hardly guarantee the nomination, a win in this first contest could help a candidate gain momentum for later races and could obtain the favor of the media, which is known for its horse race coverage in US presidential campaigns.

But still, Sanders said, the economy is foremost in people’s minds.

On his way to New Hampshire, Sanders said his message of addressing wealth inequality resonated with voters in Iowa, and the Vermont socialist predicted it will resonate in the early voting states of New Hampshire, Nevada and SC.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton laughs as she celebrates with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, at her caucus night rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Feb. 1, 2016.

Two White House hopefuls, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, who had trouble gaining any traction in the Democratic race, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a Republican, suspended their campaigns after doing badly in Iowa.