The bad weather in Iowa may have contributed towards a lower-than-usual turnout for the Republican caucuses but that it did not stop caucusgoers from braving the storm to vote spoke volumes about the quadrennial event — and about former President Donald Trump's historic big win, according to one Hawkeye State Republican.
"Perhaps the biggest statement regarding his victory is that people truly put their lives at risk to attend," Des Moines high school teacher Kathleen Downes told Newsmax on the morning after Trump clinched more than half the votes in the Iowa caucus, the biggest win of any Republican in the 48-year history of the caucus.
"The temperatures were 12 below zero and the roads were ice and snow-covered," she continued. "Anyone who came out very literally were endangering themselves. Yet the turnout was still incredible!"
Downes, a Trump supporter in both 2016 and this year, added that the turnout for the former president was driven in large part by concerns about immigration.
"I don't know of any other first-world country that is letting unvetted people cross their borders like we are," she said. "I come from immigrant stock so I welcome newcomers, but even at Ellis Island, they had rudimentary health checks and criteria for entering the country. We have every right to carefully vet those who want to enter this nation and it frankly scares me who's crossing our borders."
Overall, roughly 110,000 participants came out for the GOP caucuses — down from more than 186,000 in 2016 and 121,501 in 2012.
"Turnout was strong for the weather conditions but otherwise lower than expected," former State GOP Executive Director and onetime Republican National Committee Political Director Gentry Collins told Newsmax.
"As has always been the case, hype about party crossover was just that — hype," he added. "Caucus history is littered with failed candidates that were going to change who turns out to party organizing meetings. It has never worked and didn't work Monday night."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.