Eight years after losing the Iowa caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), former President Donald Trump won them in what may prove to be the widest margin in the history of the contest. The former president’s dominance was so substantial that networks ranging from CBS to Fox News called his victory just 30 minutes after the doors closed.

Based on the early returns, it’s not hard to see how decision desks could quickly come to the obvious conclusion. According to NBC News, just 130,000 Iowans turned out for this cycle’s caucuses, down from the 187,000 who turned out in 2016, and the mathematics of election projection all come down to localities. Just as networks were able to call shocking victories for President Joe Biden the moment the polls closed in the Virginia and Massachusetts primaries in 2020, even as mail-in ballots remained outstanding, decision desks do not need all the caucus sites to post final polls or even for all of them to have began.