Sen. Ted Cruz scored a hard-fought upset win over businessman Donald Trump in the Iowa Republican caucuses Monday night, while former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders were locked in a virtual tie on the Democratic side with most of the votes counted.<br />Cruz made good on his bet that a methodical campaign organization would eclipse Trump’s media dominance in the first test of GOP voters.<br />With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Cruz was besting his rival by more than 5,100 votes, with fellow senator Marco Rubio of Florida a close third.<br />Clinton had been a clear front-runner in Iowa last summer.<br />But Sanders, hammering a message about economic inequities for the middle class, narrowed the margin in Iowa into a dead heat in the final days, and the results could presage a long, grueling fight to the nomination.<br />He maintains a polling advantage in New Hampshire, which will hold its primaries next week.
