The 2016 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses were held on Monday February 1 in Iowa, as usual marking the Democratic Party's first nominating contest in their series of presidential primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Image: Bernie Sanders September 2015 cropped
Hillary Clinton launched her campaign in Iowa, April 2015
Bernie Sanders campaigns in Iowa in January 2016
In the 2016 presidential campaign, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders sought the Democratic Party's nomination in a field of six major candidates and was the runner up with 46% of the pledged delegates behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who won the contest with 54%. Sanders, the junior United States senator and former Representative from Vermont, began with an informal announcement on April 30, 2015, and a formal announcement that he planned to seek the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States on May 26, 2015, in Burlington, Vermont. Sanders had been considered a potential candidate for president since at least September 2014. Though he had previously run as an independent, he routinely caucused with the Democratic Party, as many of his views align with Democrats. Running as a Democrat made it easier to participate in debates and get his name on state ballots.
Sanders at his campaign launch in Burlington, Vermont, late May 2015
Sanders speaks with Jorge Ramos at the January 2016 Brown & Black Presidential Forum in Iowa
Sanders in Minneapolis facing the first large crowd of his campaign, May 31, 2015
A Sanders campaign field office in Nashua, New Hampshire