Iowa caucus results are coming in: Live updates from Annenberg Media

DES MOINES - After months of door-knocking, phone-banking and rallies across the state, the Democratic candidates for president have made their case to Iowa caucusgoers and Monday night the first choices will be made.

The Republican Party will also be holding caucuses Monday evening as well, but there are low expectations for the candidates opposing President Trump, former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld and former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh.

Three Annenberg Media journalists have been on the ground in Iowa since Friday. For our past coverage and live updates throughout the day, make sure to follow us on Twitter.

@austinrpeay

@abhinanda_b

@morganstephensa

Have questions about what a caucus is? Take a look at this explainer by the interactive desk.

The ongoing Trump impeachment trial has created some challenges for the Democratic Senators in the race. Sens. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota have spent the past few weeks travelling from Washington D.C. to Iowa and back again to attend campaign events and serve as jurors in the impeachment trial. Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado who is polling at less than 1% in most national polls has only visited Iowa once in the past month.

All times shown are Central.

11:30 p.m. What the heck happens now?

DES MOINES -- Well, in between the time that we left Marshalltown and got back to Des Moines chaos abounded across the state. Results kept being delayed and every media outlet was receiving radio silence from the state Democratic Party. As I sit here in the hotel room, there are still no results being reported.

Klobuchar, Biden, Warren, and Sanders all gave a similar speech: This campaign isn’t over and we’re going to New Hampshire!

Buttigieg, though he may or may not have won, appeared to deliver a victory speech of sorts.

Whether or not results are released tonight remains to be seen.

If they are, I’ll update this page. If not, goodnight.

By: Austin Peay

8:15 p.m. Delegate counts revealed

MARSHALLTOWN -- Sanders won precinct 32. What does that mean exactly? Here are the delegate counts for each viable candidate.

Sanders: 7 delegates

Buttigieg: 6 delegates

Biden: 5 delegates

None of the other candidates earned delegates, and as you can see these contenders were fairly evenly split.

8:15 p.m. Second alignment

MARSHALLTOWN -- After the second alignment disheartened caucusgoers split off from the non-viable candidates and splintered to groups all over the room. The updated numbers are as follows:

Sanders: 65

Buttigieg: 49

Biden: 46

With that, the caucus concludes. Sanders won.

7:45 p.m. First alignment

MARSHALLTOWN -- As the first alignment took shape here, several candidates obviously weren’t viable: Bennet, Tom Steyer, Andrew Yang and Michael Bloomberg. A representative from each count was allowed to give a speech and the groups attempted to convince people to join them.

The first official count lined up to be:

Sanders: 57

Former Vice President Joe Biden: 40

Pete Buttigieg: 31

Klobuchar: 23 people (not viable)

Warren: 20 people (not viable)

7:30 p.m. Caucus begins

MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA -- After an elaborate counting process at Fisher Elementary School, officials announced there are 174 caucusgoers in the room. That means candidates must have at least 27 people in their corner to be viable.

6:45 p.m.: Voices from Iowa

We spoke to Iowans all weekend about what they are thinking about as the caucuses approach. Some tell us they know exactly who they will caucus for, some are undecided, some are just tired of all the political ads and campaigns that have been going through the state in the last few months. But most are proud that Iowa goes first, and take their responsibility seriously.

By: Abhinanda Bhattacharyya

6:30 p.m.: From The Media Filing Center and Marshalltown

The caucuses in and around Des Moines proper are notoriously crowded as the national press prefers not to venture too far out of city limits when covering caucuses. After a brief stop at the Media Filing Center in Des Moines, where everyone from CNN anchor Jake Tapper to ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady, a Republican from Texas, were hanging out before the caucuses, Annenberg Media traveled to Marshalltown.

Marshalltown is a working class community with a population of less than 30,000. The meat packing industry dominates the county, which has a large and growing Latino and immigrant population.

Caucusgoers are arriving ahead of the 7 p.m. start time and getting into the corners for their preferred candidates. All of the major candidates are represented, but it appears several groups won’t meet the needed 15% of the people in the room. That means anyone supporting those candidates will need to go with a second choice.

While most candidates have creative decorations including signs, banners and costumes, some kept it simple. One man pinned up 5 pieces of paper reading: BL OO MB ER G!

By: Austin Peay

1:45 p.m.: A video explainer of the Iowa caucuses

A new episode of The Ballot Box discusses what the Iowa caucus is and why candidates fight so hard to win it.

By: Morgan Stephens

11:01 a.m.: Some highlights from our coverage so far

Jan. 31 - CLIVE -- On our first night in Iowa, mere hours after we landed, we attended a Sanders/Bon Iver joint campaign rally/concert. The Vermont Senator was trapped in D.C. after the impeachment trial went late, but he was still able to call in and speak to supporters over the speaker system.

Feb. 1 - On Saturday a duo of pranksters travelled around the state antagonizing candidates at their rallies. Annenberg Media brushed shoulders with them a couple of times.

Feb. 2 - The last day before the caucuses was also the Super Bowl. Candidates made their final arguments to supporters and some candidates flourished while others flopped.

Sanders led a packed house out of his campaign office in Newton.

Former Vice President Joe Biden made a last ditch effort to rally supporters in Des Moines for his last big campaign event on the eve of the caucuses. The Bidens took the stage 20 minutes before kickoff.

Check back regularly throughout the day for updates from the Annenberg Media team in Iowa, and on social media at #USCinIowa.

By: Austin Peay