The lead-up to the 2024 US election has kicked off in Iowa, where Donald Trump secured an early victory on Tuesday that edged him closer to the Republican nomination.

As part of the presidential nomination process in the US, each state holds either “primaries” or “caucuses” to come up with presidential nominees.

Caucuses are essentially meetings run by political parties held at the county, district or precinct level to choose a candidate.

“Each candidate’s group gives speeches and tries to get others to join their group,” the US government’s website states.

“At the end, the number of delegates given to each candidate is based on the number of caucus votes they received.”

The Iowa caucus receive plenty of attention simply because it is the first, and this year registered Republicans – the Grand Old Party (GOP) – braved freezing temperatures to cast their ballot.

Trump emerges victorious

Trump demolished his political rivals to come out on top in Iowa on Tuesday.

His victory was widely predicted before the caucus, with uncertainty mainly lying in who would come second: Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley?

Trump is well ahead of his opponents in the polls and is already sizing up Democrat and current president Joe Biden in the general election in November.

“He is totally destroying our country,” Trump said in Iowa of his successor.

The next few days are going to be busy for Trump. The Associated Press reports he is expected to fly to New York on Monday night to appear in court the following morning.

There a jury is deciding whether he will need to pay additional damages to columnist E. Jean Carroll, whom he was liable for sexually abusing and defaming last year.

Then Trump will be off to New Hampshire, for the next Republican primary.

Republican candidate Donald Trump visits a caucus site in Clive, Iowa. Photo: Getty

Does it matter who comes second?

With Trump tipped to win the Iowa caucuses, many said the real race to watch was between DeSantis and Haley for second place.

Given Trump’s legal troubles, it might be best that the Republican party has some sort of backup and DeSantis and Haley could serve as alternatives, if they prove they have what it takes.

Last week in Iowa, the two went head to head in a debate, avoiding the subject of Trump and relentlessly attacking one another.

Despite DeSantis being primed to be the next Trump just a few years ago, support for Florida’s governor has dwindled since the race heated up.

It is being projected DeSantis will finish second, far behind Trump but slightly ahead of Haley.

CNN opined that DeSantis needed to finish strong in Iowa. He campaigned hard in Iowa, but in Haley’s words, he is “invisible” in other states like New Hampshire.

On the other hand, Haley is maintaining ground in New Hampshire and South Carolina, where she previously served as governor.

The Associated Press spoke with life-long Democrat Carol Hendrick, who registered as a Republican on Monday purely to caucus for Haley.

However, Hendrick only did so to help do anything in her power to prevent Trump from becoming president. In the general election, even if Haley was the Republican nomination, she would cast a vote for Biden.

“Her doing well makes Trump look worse,” Hendrick said. “I do wish her well. She’s an accomplished person.”

All eyes will be on Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. Photo: Getty

Does the Iowa caucus really matter?

The Iowa caucus can certainly help the party determine how much support each candidate has, but it isn’t always a reliable indicator on who will go on to win a party’s vote.

Iowa is just one battleground and historically, it doesn’t hold much weight in terms of who will be a party’s presidential nomination.

In 2016, when Trump threw his hat in the ring, he didn’t win the Iowa caucuses – Ted Cruz did.

But Trump went on to be the Republican candidate in the 2016 election, where he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.

He won the Iowa caucus in 2020, but after winning the party nomination he lost to Biden in the election.

In 2012, Rick Santorum narrowly beat Mitt Romney in Iowa by some 30 votes, but Romney was the GOP’s nomination that year.