Frigid Temps Didn’t Stop Dubuque County Residents from Caucusing

A historically cold evening didn't stop determined voters from showing up to their local polling places to cast their ballots for the Iowa Caucus. Multiple outlets reported that this year's Caucus was the coldest in recorded history, but in the midst of painfully cold weather were folks who still wanted to carry out their civic duty.

Dubuque voters weren't fazed by the frigid cold, with temps hovering around -4°F yesterday evening with wind chills as low as -35°F. Local Republican voters flocked to the Dubuque High School cafeteria to listen to representatives from the four major candidates (Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy) and then cast their ballots.

KCRG was live in Dubuque at one point during their coverage to recap the results. Many older individuals they interviewed were actually caucusing for the very first time. "My wife asked, 'why are you going?' I said, because I can!" said one gentleman who had never been to an Iowa Caucus before and didn't know what to expect.

Overall, former President Donald Trump won handedly in Dubuque with 206 votes, per KCRG. The other three candidates trailed far behind, with DeSantis netting 57 votes, Haley getting 55, and Ramaswamy getting 44.

As of this writing, Donald Trump dominated the Caucus with over 56,000 votes and 51% of the votes, cumulatively. Ron DeSantis came in a distant second place with over 23,400 votes, while Nikki Haley trailed just slightly behind with 21,085 votes. Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his campaign after a fourth place finish in the Iowa Caucus, and publicly endorsed Donald Trump as president.

After the Iowa Caucus, New Hampshire has the first primary set for January 24th, 2024. From there, there's a large gap of time from the next primary, with Wisconsin's set to take place on April 2nd, 2024.

For more information about how Dubuque County residents showed up for the Iowa Caucus, watch this video of the coverage from KCRG.