CLIVE, Iowa — Republican voters gathered across the Hawkeye State Monday night to cast the first votes of the 2016 GOP presidential primary.
Here, in suburban Des Moines, the 1,000 or so Iowans assembled to cast their votes were greeted by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who with his wife and four kids in tow was making a final pitch to voters with just minutes to spare. Rubio was scheduled to visit two more caucuses before time ran out.Rubio received a warm reception and spent nearly a half an hour greeting voters and taking pictures with supporters. “We need you, man,” one supporter told him. “I need you,” Rubio replied. With another supporter who was clad in Denver Broncos apparel, Rubio chatted briefly about NFL football.For Republicans, the caucus entails sitting through the equivalent of a series of nominating speeches, as the candidates or their surrogates make their case. Later, attendees cast secret ballots that will be tabulated the way votes are in a normal election.New York businessman Donald Trump was running first in the state, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rubio and retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Trump presumably needs a flood of new voters to hold off Cruz. In Clive, which was hosting two precincts, that didn’t appear to be the case.Trump spoke on his own behalf here, however. He delivered a condensed version of his standard stump speech, telling caucus-goers that in a Trump administration, “we’re going to win with everything.” He was received warmly, but a caucus volunteer said not more so than surrogates for other candidates who spoke.Also speaking for himself here was Carson. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of Texas spoke for Cruz.
