Whether you’ve been paying attention to politics or not, you probably know that the 2016 election is nothing shy of dramatic and intense. On February 1, the race was amplified with the Iowa caucus.

After the caucus, the Democrats who remain in the race are Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The Republicans still have a plethora of candidates, which includes Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Dr. Ben Carson, John Kasich, and many more candidates who have polled very low.

Since the caucus, Governor Martin O’Malley (D), Senator Rand Paul (R), Governor Mike Huckabee (R), and Senator Rick Santorum (R) have suspended their campaigns. All four former candidates polled low numbers at the caucus.

This election cycle has proven to create mixed reactions from LHS faculty and students. Miss Winiarski feels the results of the caucus were “unsurprising” because the results seemed to reflect earlier polls in Iowa. Meanwhile, Lemont senior Jack Liebfritz feels the results were “shocking” because votes from the Democrat side were so close between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

While the polls from television networks continue to show Americans mixed views on the current candidates, both students and faculty are contemplating who they will vote for in their respective primaries in March. Mrs. Melei says she’s “100% confused” on who to vote for.

The Iowa Caucus marks the beginning of the intensity of America’s hectic political scene. The next polling will take place in New Hampshire. Mr. Priestley notes that analysts cannot always predict a winner, so only time will tell who will be the next resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Thank you to Nick Phillips, Jack Lund, Amber Miller, Jack Buday, Karol Wlodarczyk, and Kess Turner for the contribution to the audio file.