Sights and sounds from Eastern Iowa caucus sites

Here's what is happening at various precincts in the Corridor. 

Center Point Urbana Middle School - Center Point

Voters flooded the Center Point-Urbana middle school's multipurpose room Monday night at the Washington Township precinct's Democratic caucus.

Hillary Clinton carried the room of 143 voters, garnering 61.8 percent of the vote (89 votes), ahead of Bernie Sanders' 37.8 percent (54 votes).

Precinct captain Cindy O'Meara said the turnout far surpassed the expected numbers, and she added 'at least a third' of them were turning out to caucus for the first time. A wide range of ages were represented, with first-time caucusgoers ranging in age from 26 to 71 years old. Though specific reasons for why new voters turned out this time varied, the overarching sentiment from those attending their first caucus was how crucial this election cycle is to the country.

'This is my first one, and I came because I thought it was important,' said 71-year-old Tommy Whitehead, who is a retired former ADM worker. 'I think it's the most important election of my lifetime. They keep saying they need a change, and I don't see where there's a change being needed. They say we need to make America great, but I thought America was great already.'

Debate didn't linger long, with 86 voters originally in Clinton's corner, 53 in Sanders', three caucusing for Martin O'Malley and one voter undecided.

Though it was clear quickly O'Malley's group wasn't going to be viable, it took at least 30 minutes of debate — with members of both Clinton and Sanders' groups making trips to the O'Malley table — to sway the remaining four voters.

Ultimately the one undecided voter sided with Sanders and the O'Malley group all went with Clinton.

Because of the high number of new voters, observers and participants alike let veterans of the process guide them through everything. One observer even flew in from Colorado to help some Sanders supporters get to the caucus, and also to take in how the Iowa caucuses work.

The quickness and process of the Center Point precinct — and the caucus system in general — left some wanting.

'I've really become disenchanted with caucus systems generally,' said Zack Burley, a 22-year-old Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer. 'There's no secret ballot, and I see that as being somewhat of an issue. The timing makes it difficult for people to show up. It doesn't seem like the most democratic of processes.

'Then again, this is my first one, and it may end up different than I expect. … I'm caucusing (in Colorado) in March.'

— Jeremiah Davis

First Street Center - Mount Vernon

Decked in a crimson Indiana Hoosiers sweater and white IU socks, Michael Dunn appeared an outsider here Monday night.

But the Hillary Clinton sticker placed on his chest helped reveal Big Ten superiority wasn't his main concern – at least for a few hours.

Dunn, who caucused in Iowa for the first time after moving to the Hawkeye State a few years ago, accepted one of two delegate positions won by Hillary Clinton supporters in the Mount Vernon North precinct, taking a 128-122 count over Bernie Sanders.

He had no intention of persuading others upon arrival at the First Street Community Center, but jumped on stage and helped convince three of six uncommitted voters to join the Clinton preference group by citing her qualifications and electability.

'I think it does matter,' said Dunn of the Democratic nomination, 'because I think the biggest thing between the two is – while I think Bernie has a lot of good ideas on things, I think he's too idealistic.'

A record 250 Democrats turned out here, which pleased Myrt Bowers, a lifelong resident of Mount Vernon who has been involved in this process since its beginning in 1972.

What delighted her most were the young first-timers in this college town, as well as a number of heads that didn't count.

'This time we saw high school students, which was wonderful,' Bowers said.

'They came with their parents, and that means that they're gonna be – probably throughout their life – involved.'

— Nathan Ford

Doubletree - Cedar Rapids

So here was Ted Cruz himself, just a few hours from perhaps being declared the Republican winner of the Iowa presidential caucuses Monday night, posing for a photo with three teenage girls from the Republic of Korea who were of no use to him.

Cruz came to the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in downtown Cedar Rapids for one last round of hand-shaking and photo-taking as a throng of attendees of 30 different caucus precincts streamed past him. Among the many people Cruz greeted were Tom Birr of Cedar Rapids and three Koreans he said were 'my informal granddaughters.'

One, 18-year-old Soo Lee of Daegu, South Korea, is studying at Cedar Valley Christian School in Cedar Rapids.

'I informally adopted her father 40-some years ago,' Birr said.

Two of Lee's friends from South Korea were with her.

'I thought it would be nice to have them get some grassroots American politics. They wanted to,' he said.

Lee watched a recent GOP debate for a homework assignment.

'It's really a lot different between Korea and here,' she said.

In Korea, on TV (politicians) kind of read from paper. Here, you have strong thoughts from individuals.

'I saw (Cruz) on TV the other day and thought it would be very cool to meet him,' she said.

Then the girls went inside a hotel ballroom and, like the rest of the world, closely watched what Iowans were doing.

— Mike Hlas

Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids

The crowd at Kirkwood Community College's Johnson Hall was packed, and a large crowd still waited to register a few minutes before 7 p.m.

'We only expected 1,500, but I think we've exceed that,' site chairman Roger Walton said.

Boy Scout troop members brought in more chairsm, and some people sat on the floor. Registration also was moving slowly.

'I think it must be frustration with the political system; that's the only thing that makes sense to me,' Walton said of the heavy turnout.

There was a round of applause when the site captain said the site had more people than expected.

'We ran out of room,' Walton said.

— Kiran Sood

New Covenant Bible Church - Cedar Rapids 

A line of caucus-goers stretched outside New Covenant Bible Church in Robins as the doors were closing at 7 p.m. Monday night for the GOP caucus.

Seven precincts met to hear final pitches for candidates and cast ballots.

While some in the larger-than-normal crowd were attending their first caucus, the majority appeared to be veterans of the political process. Signs promoting candidates ranged from homemade to slick laminated versions with professional layout and execution.

Ted Cruz energized a capacity crowd in the church's main worship center with calls for support for Israel and a pledge to repeal the recent nuclear agreement with Iran. Cruz received a standing ovation at the conclusion of his comments.

As the precincts finalized their voting, Cruz and Rubio garnered the majority of the votes with Trump in third place. Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina and John Kasich received less than a handful of votes apiece.

The voting was swift in Hiawatha Precinct 1, the first precinct to vote. Ted Cruz received 52 votes, Donald Trump had 41 votes, Marco Rubio picked up 36 votes and Ben Carson talled 26.

As caucus-goers were leaving, many expressed surprise that Trump did not garner any first-place votes. The billionaire businessman had supporters at the caucus, but Cruz and Rubio received the majority of the votes.

— George C. Ford

Washington High School - Cedar Rapids 

By 6:30 p.m., throngs filled the hallways for the Democratic precinct caucuses at Cedar Rapids Washington High School.

By the time the doors closed at 7 p.m., 435 people had gathered for Precinct 24 on the city's southeast side. Most appeared to be middle-aged or older, but students and young parents toting children were in the mix, as well.

Kayleigh, 29, and Chris Bryant, 28, were excited to be attending their first caucus, and brought their two young sons along for the experience. Kayleigh and Chrisfavor Bernie Sanders for his support of marriage equality.

'I like his economic plan, as well,' Kayleigh Bryant said.

Sanders and Hillary Clinton had a nearly even split of supporters, with 188 and 239, respectively, so each will have three delegates March 12 at the Linn County Convention.

The event in the school's main auditorium ran smoothly, punctuated by a few whoops from the Sanders camp — and a few whoops audible from the Precinct 15 gathering in the smaller auditorium next door.

It was the 'good turnout' Precinct 24 chairwoman Catherine Crist, 53, of Cedar Rapids, expected. Most scattered after a brief break, however, leaving about 60 people to elect six county convention delegates from that precinct. That's' not unusual, Crist noted.

'This takes time, and people have jobs and families and others to take care of,' she said. 'I have great respect for the fact that people come here to show their enthusiasm and commitment to this wonderful democratic process.'

— Diana Nollen

McKinley Middle School - Cedar Rapids 

The night belonged to Bernie Sanders by 8:30 p.m., but it was a tight one between Sanders and Hillary Clinton up to that point in Precinct 26 at McKinley Middle School in Cedar Rapids.

The two groups were chanting and yelling for their candidates throughout the process, but the Sanders' crowd seemed to stand out with a few young supporters who sported blue hair and a purple mohawk.

The 441 at the caucus stayed loyal to their candidates, but no fights or arguments broke out as they announced Sanders had 233 votes to 175 for Clinton. Sanders will have four delegates and Clinton will have three delegates for the county convention.

Gov. Martin O'Malley might have been in the minority with only 14, which took a small corner of the packed McKinley auditorium, but they were enthusiastic and only lost five who joined the Clinton group after the preliminary vote.

Precinct 26 had to share space with Precinct 36, who met downstairs at McKinley. The two had lines out the door after 7 p.m., which caused the one snafu of the evening. Some caucus-goers for Precinct 26 got mixed up and were accidentally standing in line for 36, so they didn't get upstairs until after 7 p.m. and were not allowed to participate.

— Trish Mehaffey

Kirkwood Regional Center - Coralville 

Of the 80 Coralville Precinct 3 GOP caucus-goers at the Kirkwood Regional Center, Sen. Marco Rubio received 33 votes, Sen. Ted Cruz received 17 and Donald Trump received 11 — going against the grain of what 'mainstream media and polls' expected.

A majority expressed disgust when the precinct leader mentioned Trump and Cruz as the 'front-runners.' Members of the room shouted that they refuse "to follow what the media wants us to follow."

Turnout was higher than expected with 50 chairs originally lined up in the room, which forced 30 Republican caucusgoers to stand around the walls.

Only a few people took the chance to state their case on their candidate, and the sense of urgency to just cast a vote and leave was overwhelming.

'I can tell the guy I wanted to win (Donald Trump) didn't,' said John Klever of Coralville before the votes were counted. 'My take on the people in here, they got their conservative ideas, and stick to them. They won't accept a guy like Trump can actually win.'

— Alex Boisjolie

MacBride Hall, University of Iowa - Iowa City

For Chelsea Harper, attending the Democratic caucus at Macbride Hall on the University of Iowa campus was likely a once in a lifetime opportunity.

'I'm only here for college,' the Texas native said. 'The next time there's an election, I won't be here to see it.'

Harper was joined by more than 600 fellow caucus-goers, many of them fellow UI students and first-time caucus attendees. The caucus officially started an hour late at 8 p.m. and filled the lower level of the Macbride auditorium to capacity.

A quick count made it apparent that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were the only viable candidates. Chants of 'Feel the Bern' and 'Bernie' erupted from the crowd, as did cheers when a number of a handful of Martin O'Malley's supporters joined the Sanders supporters.

Sanders ended up with 519 votes and five delegates, while Clinton ended with 110 votes and one delegate.

— Lee Hermiston