--- title: Iowa Democratic Caucuses Used Coin Tosses to Find a Winner description: Several of Iowa's Democratic precincts used a coin toss to determine a winner, illustrating the historically close Democratic matchup canonical: https://time.com/4204049/iowa-caucus-coin-toss-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-02T15:23:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:41:29.677Z article:section: Politics og:title: Some Iowa Precincts Flipped a Coin to Determine Democratic Winner og:description: Hillary Clinton won the coin toss in each instance og:url: https://time.com/4204049/iowa-caucus-coin-toss-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41bac639d4a8289f/69887bbcab6d7715066a83c3/bernie-sanders1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Holds Iowa Caucus Night Gathering og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Some Iowa Precincts Flipped a Coin to Determine Democratic Winner twitter:description: Hillary Clinton won the coin toss in each instance twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41bac639d4a8289f/69887bbcab6d7715066a83c3/bernie-sanders1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Some Iowa Caucus Precincts Flipped a Coin to Determine the Democratic Winner > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=2b6c3235-e10f-42e1-83ad-213846bfe8f6&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch Donald Trump Lose [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Donald Trump Lose](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yI3kIumt.m3u8) (1:28)  _Published 2016-02-02. What It’s Like for Donald Trump to Lose Iowa_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 2, 2016 3:23 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 2, 2016 3:23 PM UTC Several of Iowa’s Democratic precincts [flipped a coin to determine a winner](http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/02/sometimes-iowa-democrats-award-caucus-delegates-coin-flip/79680342/) on Monday, illustrating the complicated nature of caucus rules and the historically close matchup between Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Clinton was [named the Democratic winner of the Iowa caucuses](http://time.com/4203862/iowa-caucuses-hillary-clinton-win/) on Tuesday morning, winning 49.9% of the vote compared to Sanders’ 49.6%. At least five coin tosses were held at precincts across the state on Monday, and in each instance, Clinton won, according to the [Des Moines _Register_](http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/02/sometimes-iowa-democrats-award-caucus-delegates-coin-flip/79680342/).  Iowa Caucus results 2016 A coin toss is required to break a tie in certain instances, according to caucus rules. “In a case where two or more preference groups are tied for the loss of a delegate, a coin shall be tossed to determine who loses the delegate,” the [Iowa caucus guide](https://twitter.com/FernandoPeinado/status/694353227274330113/photo/1?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) states. > [](https://twitter.com/FernandoPeinado/status/694345745420320768) > [](https://twitter.com/SageRosenfels18/status/694395728995622912) > [](https://twitter.com/andytadlock/status/694340486908088320) > [](https://twitter.com/tripgabriel/status/694375261513469952) > [](https://twitter.com/JLaBua/status/694383966233587712) ## Transcript 94 % for Donald Trump. 23 %. 99 % of the expected vote now in but Ted Cruz is ahead 28 %/ 24 %. Once ahead on the democratic side look at how close it is. 50. 1 %, 49. 2 %. [ APPLAUSE ] We finish second and I wanna tell you something, I'm just honored, I'm really honored and I wanna congratulate Ted. We've had every indication, we're going now on we have a poll where we're 28 points ahead Okay, New Hampshire, we love New Hampshire, we love South Carolina. [ APPLAUSE ] And we're leaving tonight, and tomorrow afternoon we'll be in New Hampshire, and that will be something special. It's gonna be a great week. [ APPLAUSE ] I was sad that Mr Trump did not get first in Iowa. Well, we did our best, and New Hampshire's next, and South Carolina. Boy, if I could meet Donald Trump right now I would tell him to keep up the confidence, and keep telling people the truth. I think he's our hope. You know, like, stuff has really gone down hill lately. And I feel like he's gonna be the one who's gonna get us out of it. Thank you, thank you everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much. 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