The race for the White House officially opens today (Monday). The first primary election will be held for both parties today in Iowa and will give some indication to future primary voters as to who is a serious contender.
While Iowa is a relatively small state and only has 52 Democratic delegates and 30 Republican delegates it is an important milestone in the election and many of the candidates have invested huge amounts of time and money into the caucus.
While Republican candidate hopeful Donald Trump is enjoying a substantial lead over his competitors, a very close race in the Democratic party is heating up between former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Clinton currently has a slight lead in the polls over Sanders.
According to the most recent poll, Trump has the support of 28 percent of the Iowa delegates, which is five percent more than his closest competitor Ted Cruz, while the other competitors are well behind. On the Democratic side the gap is far smaller with only 3 percent separating Clinton's 45 percent to Sanders' 42 percent.
Following today's primary, the next stop on the campaign trail will be New Hampshire on February 9th. Then on the 20th the parties separate, with the Democrats holding primaries in Nevada and the Republicans moving on to South Carolina.
The last primary will be held on June 14th when the Democratic party will hold the final primary in the District of Columbia.