Search results for

NPR.org will be posting live updates as the news comes in from Iowa. The caucuses start at 7 p.m. local time (8 p.m. ET).

Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul were the big winners Tuesday night in the Iowa caucuses. They finished first, second and third respectively. Romney won by the narrowest of margins — eight votes.

Even after a spectacular night of political drama, what Republicans are looking for in a presidential candidate remains unclear. Entrance polls reveal that Iowa voters were split on whether they want electability or principles.

Like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008, Rick Santorum pulled off a late surge in Iowa with an appeal to social conservatives. Huckabee came in third in New Hampshire, then faded. Can Santorum avoid the same fate?

Erik McBee, 15, faced a test of his survival skills. He was traveling on Southwest Airlines, and fell asleep. He slept through the landing at his destination, Tulsa. KPHO TV says he woke up in St. Louis with no contacts, no money and no phone.

A British woman had a break-in back in September, and thieves stole a life-size statue of E.T. She thought it was gone for good until last week, when a passerby saw it floating in a river and called the police. They reunited the statue with its owner.

The poll looked at the effects of Iowa and found Mitt Romney maintaining a commanding lead.

Listen to a special podcast from NPR News on the first presidential contest of the year — and where the race goes from here.

ANALYSIS: The caucuses are largely an excuse for candidates to try to charm voters for the cameras, and for journalists to harass candidates, voters and the journalists' own audiences.

The Minnesota Republican received only 5 percent of the vote in Iowa.