Humanities › Issues Iowa Caucus Winners Share Flipboard Email Print Issues The U. S. Government Campaigns & Elections History & Major Milestones U.S. Constitution & Bill of Rights U.S. Legal System U.S. Political System Defense & Security Business & Finance U.S. Foreign Policy U.S. Liberal Politics U.S. Conservative Politics Women's Issues Civil Liberties The Middle East Race Relations Immigration Crime & Punishment Canadian Government Understanding Types of Government View More By Tom Murse Tom Murse Twitter Political Journalist Tom Murse has been writing about politics and government for over two decades, and has been recognized by the Nieman Foundation for fairness in investigative reporting. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on January 28, 2020 Here is a list of all the Iowa caucus winners since 1972, when it first began holding the earliest contest in the presidential primary nominating process. The results for Iowa caucus winners come from published reports, the state's elections office and other public sources. 2016 Iowa Caucus Winners Alex Wong/Getty Images Republicans: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz won the 2016 Iowa caucuses amid a crowded field of a dozen candidates. The results are: Ted Cruz: 26.7 percent or 51,666 votes Donald Trump: 24.3 percent or 45,427 votes Marco Rubio: 23.1 percent or 43,165 votes Ben Carson: 9.3 percent or 17,395 votes Rand Paul: 4.5 percent or 8,481 votes : 2.8 percent or 5,238 votes Carly Fiorina: 1.9 percent or 3,485 votes John Kasich: 1.9 percent or 3,474 votes Mike Huckabee: 1.8 percent or 3,345 votes Chris Christie: 1.8 percent or 3,284 votes Rick Santorum: 1 percent or 1,783 votes Jim Gilmore: 0 percent or 12 votes Democrats: Former U.S. Sen. and ex-secretary of the Department of State Hillary Clinton won the Iowa caucuses. The results are: Hillary Clinton: 49.9 percent or 701 votes Bernie Sanders: 49.6 percent or 697 votes Martin O'Malley: 0.6 percent or 8 votes 2012 Iowa Caucus Winners Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images News Republicans: Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum won the popular vote in the 2012 Iowa Republican caucuses. The results are: Rick Santorum: 24.6 percent or 29,839 votesMitt Romney: 24.5 percent or 29,805 votesRon Paul: 21.4 percent or 26,036 votesNewt Gingrich: 13.3 percent or 16,163 votesRick Perry: 10.3 percent or 12,557 votesMichele Bachmann: 5 percent or 6,046 votesJon Huntsman: 0.6 percent or 739 votes Democrats: Incumbent President Barack Obama was unopposed for his party's nomination. 2008 Iowa Caucus Winners Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images News Republicans: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the popular vote in the 2008 Iowa Republican caucuses. U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona went on to win the Republican presidential nomination. The results are: Mike Huckabee: 34.4 percent or 40,954 votesMitt Romney: 25.2 percent or 30,021 votesFred Thompson: 13.4 percent or 15,960 votesJohn McCain: 13 percent or 15,536 votesRon Paul: 9.9 percent or 11,841 votesRudy Giuliani: 3.4 percent or 4,099 votes Receiving less than 1 percent of the vote were Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo. Democrats: U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois won the 2008 Iowa Democratic caucuses. The results are: Barack Obama: 37.6 percentJohn Edwards: 29.8 percentHillary Clinton: 29.5 percentBill Richardson: 2.1 percentJoe Biden: 0.9 percent 2004 Iowa Caucus Winners Alex Wong/Getty Images News Republicans: President George W. Bush was unopposed for renomination. Democrats: U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts won the 2004 Iowa Democratic caucuses. He went on to win the Democratic presidential nomination. The results are: John Kerry: 37.6 percentJohn Edwards: 31.9 percentHoward Dean: 18 percentDick Gephardt: 10.6 percentDennis Kucinich: 1.3 percentWesley Clark: 0.1 percentUncommitted: 0.1 percentJoe Lieberman: 0 percentAl Sharpton: 0 percent 2000 Iowa Caucus Winners Andy Kropa/Getty Images Entertainment Republicans: Former Texas Gov. George W. Bush won the popular vote in the 2000 Iowa Republican caucuses. He went on to win the Republican presidential nomination. The results are: George W. Bush: 41 percent or 35,231 votesSteve Forbes: 30 percent or 26,198 votesAlan Keyes: 14 percent or 12,268 votesGary Bauer: 9 percent or 7,323 votesJohn McCain: 5 percent or 4,045 votesOrrin Hatch: 1 percent or 882 votes Democrats: Former U.S. Sen. Al Gore of Tennessee won the 2000 Iowa Democratic caucuses. He went on to win the Democratic presidential nomination. The results are: Al Gore: 63 percentBill Bradley: 35 percentUncommitted: 2 percent 1996 Iowa Caucus Winners Chris Hondros/Getty Images News Republicans: Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas won the popular vote in the 1996 Iowa Republican caucuses. He went on to win the Republican presidential nomination. The results are: Bob Dole: 26 percent or 25,378 votesPat Buchanan: 23 percent or 22,512 votesLamar Alexander: 17.6 percent or 17,003 votesSteve Forbes: 10.1 percent or 9,816 votesPhil Gramm: 9.3 percent or 9,001 votesAlan Keyes: 7.4 percent or 7,179 votesRichard Lugar: 3.7 percent or 3,576 votesMaurice Taylor: 1.4 percent or 1,380 votesNo preference: 0.4 percent or 428 votesRobert Dornan: 0.14 percent or 131 votesOther: 0.04 percent or 47 votes Democrats: Incumbent President Bill Clinton was unopposed for his party's nomination. 1992 Iowa Caucus Winners Amanda Edwards/Getty Images Entertainment Republicans: Incumbent President George H.W. Bush was unopposed for his party's nomination. Democrats: U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa won the 1992 Iowa Democratic caucuses. Former Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton went on to win Democratic presidential nomination. The results are: Tom Harkin: 76.4 percentUncommitted: 11.9 percentPaul Tsongas: 4.1 percentBill Clinton: 2.8 percentBob Kerrey: 2.4 percentJerry Brown: 1.6 percentOther: 0.6 percent 1988 Iowa Caucus Winners Mark Kegans/Getty Images News Republicans: Then-U.S. Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas won the popular vote in the 1988 Iowa Republican caucuses. George H.W. Bush went on to win the Republican presidential nomination. The results are: Bob Dole: 37.4 percent or 40,661 votesPat Robertson: 24.6 percent or 26,761 votesGeorge H.W. Bush: 18.6 percent or 20,194 votesJack Kemp: 11.1 percent or 12,088 votesPete DuPont: 7.3 percent or 7,999 votesNo preference: 0.7 percent or 739 votesAlexander Haig: 0.3 percent or 364 votes Democrats: Former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt won the 1988 Iowa Democratic caucuses. Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis went on to win Democratic presidential nomination. The results are: Dick Gephardt: 31.3 percentPaul Simon: 26.7 percentMichael Dukakis: 22.2 percentJesse Jackson: 8.8 percentBruce Babbitt: 6.1 percentUncommitted: 4.5 percentGary Hart: 0.3 percentAl Gore: 0 percent 1984 Iowa Caucus Winners Dirck Halstead / Getty Images Contributor Republicans: Incumbent President Ronald Reagan was unopposed for his party's nomination. Democrats: Former Vice President Walter Mondale won the 1984 Iowa Democratic caucuses. He went on to win Democratic presidential nomination. The results are: Walter Mondale: 48.9 percentGary Hart: 16.5 percentGeorge McGovern: 10.3 percentUncommitted: 9.4 percentAlan Cranston: 7.4 percentJohn Glenn: 3.5 percentReuben Askew: 2.5 percentJesse Jackson: 1.5 percentErnest Hollings: 0 percent 1980 Iowa Caucus Winners Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons Republicans: George H.W. Bush won the popular vote in the 1980 Iowa Republican caucuses. Ronald Reagan went on to win the Republican presidential nomination. The results are: George Bush: 31.6 percent or 33,530 votesRonald Reagan: 29.5 percent or 31,348 votesHoward Baker: 15.3 percent or 16,216 votesJohn Connally: 9.3 percent or 9,861 votesPhil Crane: 6.7 percent or 7,135 votesJohn Anderson: 4.3 percent or 4,585 votesNo Preference: 1.7 percent or 1,800 votesBob Dole: 1.5 percent or 1,576 votes Democrats: Incumbent President Jimmy Carter won the 1980 Iowa Democratic caucuses after facing a rare challenge to an incumbent by U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy. Carter went on to win Democratic presidential nomination. The results are: Jimmy Carter: 59.1 percentTed Kennedy: 31.2 percentUncommitted: 9.6 percent 1976 Iowa Caucus Winners Chris Polk/FilmMagic Republicans: President Gerald Ford won a straw poll taken in Iowa precincts and was the party's nominee that year. Democrats: Former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter fared the best of any candidate in the 1976 Iowa Democratic caucuses, but most voters were uncommitted. Carter went on to win Democratic presidential nomination. The results are: Uncommitted: 37.2 percentJimmy Carter: 27.6 percentBirch Bayh: 13.2 percentFred Harris: 9.9 percentMorris Udall: 6 percentSargent Shriver: 3.3 percentOther: 1.8 percentHenry Jackson: 1.1 percent 1972 Iowa Caucus Winners Underwood Archives/Getty Images Democrats: U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine fared the best of any candidate in the 1972 Iowa Democratic caucuses, but most voters were uncommitted. George McGovern went on to become the Democratic presidential nominee. The results are: Uncommitted: 35.8 percentEdmund Muskie: 35.5 percentGeorge McGovern: 22.6 percentOther: 7 percentHubert Humphrey: 1.6 percentEugene McCarthy: 1.4 percentShirley Chisolm: 1.3 percentHenry Jackson: 1.1 percent Republicans: President Richard M. Nixon was unopposed for his party's nomination. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Murse, Tom. "Iowa Caucus Winners." ThoughtCo, Sep. 4, 2021, thoughtco.com/iowa-caucus-winners-3367535. Murse, Tom. (2021, September 4). Iowa Caucus Winners. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/iowa-caucus-winners-3367535 Murse, Tom. "Iowa Caucus Winners." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/iowa-caucus-winners-3367535 (accessed June 5, 2023). copy citation Featured Video