Hillary Clinton crowned 'apparent winner' of Iowa Democratic caucus

Hillary Clinton essentially tied Bernie Sanders in Iowa, and that&#039;s a win for her — (Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

With 99.9 percent of precincts counted in Iowa, Hillary Clinton leads Sen. Bernie Sanders by a narrow margin of 49.9 percent to 49.5 percent, or 700 "state delegate equivalents" to 695. That's close enough for NBC News, which "declared Clinton the apparent winner" of the Iowa Democratic caucus.

Not surprisingly, Clinton's campaign agrees with that assessment, though it might quibble with the "apparent" part. "Hillary Clinton has won the Iowa caucus," Clinton's Iowa state director, Matt Paul, said in a statement. "Statistically, there is no outstanding information that could change the results and no way Sen. Sanders can overcome Secretary Clinton's advantage."

And that appears to be true, barring any miscounts. The Iowa Democratic Party said early Tuesday that the one outstanding precinct, in Des Moines, will award 2.28 state delegate equivalents, not enough to boost Sanders (695.49 SDEs) over Clinton (699.57 SDEs), even if he wins the final precinct.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.