Knight News will be traveling to Iowa City to cover the 2016 presidential Iowa Caucus in their central business district as well as at the University of Iowa.
The early February trip will include students at ‘UIowa’ casting their caucus votes in campus venues and around Iowa City. City venues such as libraries and halls will see hundreds of voters line up as they put their political efficacy into practice.
We’ll bring live, on-the-ground coverage of the presidential candidates as they make their way around the area.
Follow us on social media for videos, photos and interviews of University of Iowa students, Iowa City residents and travelers. We’ll also be broadcasting from Cedar Rapids and Chicago, Illinois.
Facebook – Knight News
Instagram – UCFKnightNews
Twitter ( & Periscope: live, in person coverage) – UCFKnightNews
Leading Candidate Standings
Republican –
Ted Cruz – The polling between Senator Cruz and his Republican front-running opponent showed the two candidates mere single-digits away from the other. More recent polling has the Senator to a double-digit trail although political experts say that may not matter. Typically, voters to the caucuses show a greater receptiveness to ideological messages, associate professors of political science at Brigham Young University Christopher Karpowitz and Jeremy Pope state, giving Cruz an edge against Trump when Iowa gatherings begin to take place.
Donald Trump – Both Cruz and Trump have seen their rivalry increase as the latter questions the ability of Cruz to run as president. Trump has shown strong support in the polls, registering 39% of the vote versus 34% to Ted Cruz on a Jan. 21st poll and an 11 point lead to Cruz in a Sunday numbers update. The billionaire has cut to the chase with his supporters and will likely see many voters make their way to the caucusing venues for the first time, said Karpowitz and Pope.
Democratic –
Hillary Clinton – Undeterred from past controversy, Clinton led with foreign policy, given her U.S. secretary of state background. Opinion on foreign policy unsurprisingly had Clinton pull in 40 points more in trust versus her opponent, Bernie Sanders. Former first lady Hillary Clinton previously had an 18 point lead against the Democratic runner-up, but expects success in the Hawkeye State and a nomination from her party due to her policies tuned from past election running’s and experience in her branch of government.
Bernie Sanders – The Democratic front-runner leads Clinton 51% to 43% and has seen support in college campuses and voters among the ‘middle-class’ on economic policies across the board. A stronger trust in those economic policies, aimed at the lower half, the Vermont Senator proclaimed in the past, has given Sanders the lead against Clinton on the subject by 22 points. Clinton’s status as former president Bill Clinton’s spouse provided greater initial coverage, with her strong fall and early winter standings. Sanders, nonetheless has built voter support with policies described to benefit the majority, numerically, of the country.
Florida Candidates –
Jeb Bush – A slide in poll numbers may be attributed to voters gained by other candidates, but Bush takes to the presidency process as one of Florida’s front-runners. Bush had his numbers jump in early January while Rubio’s dropped in the same period, taking the lead for Florida candidates.
Marco Rubio – Third place, away from the neck-and-neck heat of the Cruz and Trump rivalry, stands Florida Senator Marco Rubio at 14%. Rubio has relied on key endorsements from newspapers and other registries, keeping his voter support in the double digits.
Both Bush and Rubio have ground to make up in Iowa but still hold a chance in the caucus.
Order of party chosen randomly; candidates listed alphabetically. Numbers retrieved from a January 21st and January 24th CNN/ORC poll.
Kyle Swenson, Joseph Klawe-Genao and Jake Hood contributed to this report.
