For complete coverage of the Iowa caucuses, download the CBS News app.
Democratic candidates have been campaigning in Iowa for nearly a year, and today, their campaigns face a key test as voters turn out for the first nominating contest of 2020, the Iowa caucuses.
It’s been a tight race that pits moderate Democrats against progressives. The top tier reflects this split: Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren represent those who believe the systems in Washington have worked against middle- and working-class Americans for too long and need to be overthrown. On the moderate side, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, both of whom argue that government programs need to be fixed, not scrapped. Amy Klobuchar, who has delivered solid performances in recent debates, is still trying to crack the top tier, and she, too, is running as a moderate.
The campaign has been disrupted for the last couple of weeks by the Senate impeachment trial, which has demanded the near-constant presence of the four senators running for the Democratic nomination, Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar and Michael Bennet, taking them off the campaign trail for days at a time.
Because the Senate adjourned for the weekend, all the major candidates were able to blanket the state, making their closing arguments to fire up supporters and try to win over some of the undecided voters.
Iowa’s results have typically predicted the Democratic nominee. In recent years, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Kerry all won the caucuses.
