(Photo : Gage Skidmore / Brett Weinstein / Flickr / CC)
Ted Cruz was the clear winner amongst the Republican candidates at the Iowa primaries on Monday night, with 27.6 percent of the votes, followed by Donald Trump who received 24.3 percent and Marco Rubio who received 23.1 percent of the votes. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton garnered a tight victory with 49.9 percent of the votes, as Bernie Sanders followed closely behind with 49.6 perent of the votes -- a difference of less than 1 percent.
A record turnout of 185,000 showed up to the primaries on Monday night, according to Edison Research.
"To God be the glory," said Cruz during his victory speech on Monday Night. Many attribute his victory to the appeal Cruz has been making throughout his campaign to evangelical voters, ever since he became the first to announce his presidential bid at Liberty University.
Cruz won 34 percent of evangelical voters, while Trump won 22 percent and Marco Rubio won 21.
"God bless the great state of Iowa. Tonight is a victory for the grass roots. Tonight is a victory for courageous conservatives across Iowa and all across this great nation," said Cruz. "Iowa has sent notice that the Republican nominee and the next president of the United States will not be chosen by the media; will not be chosen by the Washington establishment; will not be chosen by the lobbyists."
Indeed, the victory came as a surprise to some who may have expected Trump to take the lead. Trump had been leading the polls for the past several months and had received widespread media attention.
Trump said that coming in second in and of itself is a feat.
"On June 16, when I started this journey, there were 17 candidates. I was told by everybody, 'Do not go to Iowa. You could never finish even in the top 10. We finished second," said Trump. "We will go on to get the Republican nomination, and we will go on to beat Hillary or Bernie or whoever they throw up there."
Rubio similarly celebrated his finish in third at the Iowa headquarters of his campaign. Though many analysts expected Rubio's votes would fall behind on similar levels as those of Jeb Bush or Chris Christie, he received a much higher percentage of votes and came in as a close third.
"Tonight here in Iowa, the people in this great state sent a very clear message that after seven years of Barack Obama, we are not waiting any longer to take our country back," he said.
Meanwhile, among the Democrats, concerns of voter fraud were raised on Monday night between the votes for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, but Clinton was declared the official winner by the Iowa Democratic Party on Tuesday morning and by The Associated Press on Tuesday afternoon, both in Eastern time.
"We had no money. We had no name recognition, and we are taking on the most powerful political organization in the United States of Ameica," Sanders told supporters on Monday night. "It looks like we are in a virtual tie."
"We started our campaign 40-50 points behind," said Bernie Sanders. "Whether we lose by a fraction of a point or win, whatever, we are very proud of our campaign."
Clinton gave brief remarks thanking her supporters and expressing excitement for a potential debate with Sanders in New Hampshire, where the primaries will be taking place next week.
"I am excited about really getting into the debate with Senator Sanders," she said. "In the last few weeks, we finally began to have what is one of the most important, substantive conversations that the Democratic Party could have."
Two presidential candidates -- Mike Huckabee and Martin O'Malley -- suspended their campaigns after the Iowa caucus.
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