Cruz’s apology to Carson says that Cruz did not necessarily win the vote totals.
Also, like you say, he got one more delegate than 2nd and 3rd place.
Also, he was EXPECTED to win. When you do win after being expected to win, then there aren’t a lot of bragging rights to spread around.
“he was EXPECTED to win. “
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The last 13 polls in IA over nearly 2 weeks before the caucus (check RCP), including the “gold standard, DMR” had Trump winning Iowa, not Cruz....there was hardly an EXPECTED Cruz win...many (hopeful) pundits thought he might fall to 3rd behind the hard charging Rubio..get your facts straight!