Trump loses and Sanders ties Clinton in first vote in White House race

Ted Cruz claimed victory over long-term Republican polls frontrunner Donald Trump while Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were virtually tied in the first electoral test for the US presidential contenders in Iowa.

Cruz, a senator from Texas who is popular among grassroots conservatives on the right of the Republican Party, gained 27.7 percent of votes. Trump, who has called for a temporary ban on Muslims from entering the US, was in second place on 24 percent.

He was just one point ahead of Marco Rubio, a senator from Florida who emerged as the strongest contender among a cluster of candidates pitching for the support of more moderate Republican voters.

"Tonight is a victory for courageous conservatives across Iowa and all across this great nation," Cruz told supporters in the traditionally conservative midwest state which is the first to vote in primary contests to determine the parties' candidates for November's presidential vote.

"Iowa has sent notice that the Republican nominee and the next president of the United States will not be chosen by the media. Will not be chosen by the Washington establishment. Will not be chosen by the lobbyists. 

"But will be chosen by the most incredible, powerful force where all sovereignty resides in our nation, by we, the people, the American people."

Trump's second place represented a setback for the bombastic businessman who has been a long-term leader in the opinion polls and had hours earlier predicted that he would score a "tremendous victory".

But he told supporters that he was honoured to finish second.

"We will go on to get the Republican nomination and we will go on to easily beat Hillary or Bernie," he said.

Sanders' strong performance represented a setback for Clinton, a former secretary of state, in a state where she lost in 2008 to eventual Democratic nominee Barack Obama, and a boost for the 74-year-old left-wing senator from Vermont.

With about 95 percent of precincts counted, Clinton was at 49.9 percent while Sanders was at 49.6 percent, with CNN declaring the race a "dead heat" and the state Democratic Party saying that the result was too close to call, and the "closest in Iowa Democratic caucus history".

But Clinton's campaign issued a statement saying that there was "no uncertainty" that she had won.

"After thorough reporting - and analysis - of results, there is no uncertainty and Secretary Clinton has clearly won the most national and state delegates," the statement said.

Sanders, who has focused on building a movement around campaign finance reform and a more equitable society, told his supporters that Iowa had started a "political revolution".

"So you guys ready for a radical idea? Well, so is America," Sanders said to cheers. "We are going to create an economy that works for working families not just the billionaire class."

Middle East policy

Clinton, who was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, has presented herself as slightly more hawkish than Obama in foreign policy terms and has called for a no-fly zone in Syria.

Sanders has opposed a no-fly zone, and also called for a broad coalition of Muslim-majority countries including Iran and Saudi Arabia to fight against the Islamic State (IS) group. Clinton has called such a coalition unviable, noting the widening rift between Sunni-led Saudi and Shia-led Iran.

The Vermont senator has also openly expressed a dislike for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but has otherwise taken a mainline Democratic view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calling for a two-state solution.

Both candidates have been vocal about welcoming Syrian refugees and decrying Islamophobia. 

Among the Republicans, Trump has called for a temporary ban on all Muslims from entering the US. Cruz has opposed accepting Syrian refugees, with the exception of Christians who have been persecuted by IS.

Cruz has been criticised for his repeated calls for "carpet-bombing" of IS in Iraq and Syria.

Rubio ardently opposes the Iranian nuclear deal and will try to get Jordan to have a bigger role in combating IS.

The primaries campaign now shifts to New Hampshire, which is the next state to vote on 9 February.