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30 August 2008 05:00 BST

Huckabee, Obama take Iowa

Friday, 04 Jan 2008 19:11

Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama victorious in Iowa caucuses

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Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama have won the Republican and Democrat caucuses in the US state of Iowa.

Members of the two parties are currently picking who they think will be their party's best candidate ahead of presidential polls later this year, which will see the nominated candidates from each party face each other in a national vote.

At the Democratic caucuses, senator Barack Obama won by a convincing margin in spite of polls indicating that he and rival Hillary Clinton were in a tight race.

Mr Obama, who is campaigning to be the United States' first black president, secured 37 per cent of the vote. Former vice-presidential candidate John Edwards edged Hillary Clinton to second place with 29.75 per cent of the ballot.

The third-placed result is a surprise for the Clinton campaign machine that has campaigned aggressively over the past few months and was seen as one of the frontrunners.

Meanwhile, former Arkansas governor Mr Huckabee swept the Republican caucuses as he finished nine per cent ahead of his competitor former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Polls forecasted a tight race between former Baptist minister Mr Huckabee and the wealthy businessman but the results showed a clear victory for the southern candidate.

Actor Fred Thompson and senator John McCain finished in third place with 13 per cent. The race for the Republican party's nomination has narrowed after the Iowa polls as two candidates Chris Dodd and Joe Biden announced that they would drop out of the race.

Voters in New Hampshire will pick their favourite candidate on Tuesday ahead of voting in the remaining 49 other states. Polls are predicting the main contest to be among Mr Obama and Ms Clinton for the Democrats and a close fight between Mr Romney and Mr McCain for the Republicans. End of story

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Huckabee, Obama take Iowa

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