DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) – – Iowa Democrats started conference at caucus websites around the state on Monday, beginning what could be a bruising months-long national nominating fight to select a November election opposition to Republican U.S. President Donald Trump.
Citizens poured into more than 1,600 schools, recreation center and other public areas to render judgment on a field of 11 Democratic competitors led by front-runners Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Vice President Joe Biden, who have actually battled for the top in recent Iowa opinion polls.
( Get the latest from the Iowa caucuses: here)
Long lines and heavy crowds were reported in some areas, however doors to the caucus sites were supposed to close at 7 p.m. CST (0100 GMT on Tuesday), and outcomes are expected to begin rolling in within an hour or more.
Mainly white, rural Iowa is the very first test in the state-by-state fight to select a Democratic nominee to deal with Trump in the Nov. 3 election. After more than a year of marketing and more than $800 million in costs, the lead to Iowa might begin to provide answers for a celebration desperately attempting to figure out how to beat the businessman-turned-president.
Do voters want somebody with attract centrists, independents and disaffected Republicans, like moderates Biden, Pete Buttigieg, the previous mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Senator Amy Klobuchar of surrounding Minnesota? Or should the party select a candidate who stimulates its liberal base and could draw out new citizens, like progressives Sanders and fellow Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts?
The race has been overshadowed in current weeks, with Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar relegated to part-time campaigning in Iowa as they were required