Votes are counted during a caucus to choose a Republican presidential candidate, at Fellows Elementary School, in Ames, Iowa, on Jan. 15,CHENEY ORR/Reuters
Donald Trump has won a thundering victory in Iowa, steamrolling opponents in the first contest of the Republican nominating process and raising the possibility he could soon have the race for the party’s 2024 presidential nod sewn up.
Voters braved -20 C conditions and icy roads to give the former president about 51 per cent of the vote Monday evening, far ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador, who finished with 21 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy trailed in single digits.
Mr. Trump’s record-breaking margin reinforces his dominance of the Republican Party and may squeeze the others out of the race as they struggle to raise enough money to continue. The action now moves on to New Hampshire, which votes next week, followed by Nevada and South Carolina next month.
“This is really time for everybody, for our country, to come together,” Mr. Trump told supporters in Des Moines, the state’s capital and only big city, before uncharacteristically congratulating Mr. DeSantis, Ms. Haley and Mr. Ramaswamy on their campaigns. “They’re all very smart people, very capable people.”
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he visits a caucus site at Horizon Event Center in Clive, Iowa, on Jan. 15.SERGIO FLORES/Reuters
In his caucus night speech, Mr. DeSantis declared he’d got his “ticket punched out of Iowa” and vowed to continue in the race. “I will not let you down,” he said.
Ms. Haley, meanwhile, pointed to her significant polling leads over Mr. DeSantis in New Hampshire and South Carolina to paint herself as the only viable challenger to Mr. Trump. She characterized Mr. Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden as a pair of unpopular old men whose time had passed.
“I have made this Republican primary a two-person race,” she said as results rolled in. “Our campaign is the last, best hope of stopping the Trump-Biden nightmare.”
Mr. Ramaswamy, who campaigned on outlandish promises such as building a wall on the Canadian border and embraced the white nationalist great replacement conspiracy theory, ended his campaign and endorsed Mr. Trump.
Despite intensive campaigning and some US$300-million in advertising spending in Iowa, the end result resembled polling averages from months ago, suggesting voters had already largely made up their minds about Mr. Trump. Several high-profile candidates even abandoned the race before the vote.
A state of 3.2 million best known for its insurance and agriculture industries, Iowa was battered over the week before the vote by a string of blizzards that curtailed campaigning. Its caucus voting format, which requires everyone to cast ballots at in-person meetings, also further pushed down turnout amid the coldest caucus night in history.
While Mr. Trump’s competitors engaged in the traditional town-hall campaigning style Iowa is famous for, the former president stuck to his preferred format of large rallies. He also missed much campaign time to attend legal proceedings in New York and Washington. It was a possible preview of the coming year, as he faces 91 criminal charges across four trials for trying to overturn the 2020 election, absconding with classified documents and falsifying business records.
Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks to voters a a caucus site at Franklin Junior High on Jan. 15, in Des Moines, Iowa.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Jan. 15.Nick Rohlman/The Associated Press
None of that, however, seemed to matter much. Many of his supporters believe conspiratorial claims that the Democrats rigged the election, staged the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol and framed Mr. Trump for it.
“That was the only way they could win, if they came up with the charges,” said Kristine Baldwin, a real estate broker, as she sat in the audience of a Trump campaign event at a Baptist church in Marion, Iowa, a few days before the vote.
Ms. Haley is the de facto candidate of the Republican establishment, staking out positions – pro-big business, pro-military aid to Ukraine – that contrast with the nationalistic bent of Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis.
She will be hoping for a better result in New Hampshire, a more moderate state where Democratic and independent voters may cross party lines to support her against Mr. Trump. Her aim is for an upset result next week, which gives her enough momentum to stay in the hunt until larger, more diverse states vote later in the process.
Sitting in the audience at one of her rallies, Jody Strand mulled whether he could support Mr. Trump if Ms. Haley didn’t get the nomination. His priority in the election, he said, was getting rid of the Biden administration, which he blamed for the high inflation of recent years.
“We need change, anything but what we’re doing right now, to get the country back to work,” Mr. Strand, 61, said. “I don’t think anyone likes Trump but they all liked the economy.”
Mr. DeSantis had high hopes of winning Iowa, where he bet that his culture warrior reputation would appeal to the large voting bloc of Christian evangelicals. Mr. DeSantis banned discussions of LGBTQ issues and structural racism in Florida schools. He also sold himself as aligned with Mr. Trump on policy but more competent at carrying it out.
At a campaign rally in Ankeny, an affluent suburb of the state capital, Des Moines, the night before the vote, Mr. DeSantis excoriated the former president for failing to implement a string of 2016 campaign promises: building a border wall and making Mexico pay for it; stripping citizenship from the U.S.-born children of undocumented migrants; and paying down government debt.
“He did not deliver,” Mr. DeSantis said. “That’s not draining the swamp, that’s filling the swamp.”
Ken Wilson, a 69-year-old retired financial adviser, said he liked Mr. DeSantis’s action on “cultural issues” and effectiveness at getting things done.
“He has proven the ability to lead. When he says he’ll be ready on Day One, I really believe that,” Mr. Wilson said as he stood in the crowd at the Ankeny rally. “I voted for Trump twice but he never had that in place. It was chaos. We don’t need any more of that.”
The rally had an ominous sign for Mr. DeSantis: Most of the audience was filled with the candidate’s out-of-state staffers and volunteers, along with a phalanx of national political reporters, underscoring his difficulty in winning over Iowans.
To many of those staying loyal to Mr. Trump, his personality is just as important as his politics. His unfiltered style, they said, along with his decision to get into politics when he could have retired as a wealthy TV host, convinced them of his authenticity.
“Nobody owns him,” said Roger West, 53, as he covered his ears with his hands against -27 temperatures in a lineup outside a Trump rally in Indianola, Iowa, the day before the vote. “I trust him.”
Donald Trump secured a resounding win in the first 2024 Republican presidential contest in Iowa on Jan. 15, asserting his command over the party with an unprecedented lead over his two closest rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
