12:10 am: Final update of the night morning, I’m wiped out. 96.6% reporting, Santorum ahead by just 37 votes.
11:44 pm: Via Twitter: “CBS confirms there is no plan for a recount tonight. The party expects to finish counting tonight.”
11:41 pm: FWIW, Newt Gingrich won at least two counties.
11:37 pm: 96% in, Santorum leads by 44 votes.
Older updates below fold:
11:26 pm: SANTORUM BACK ON TOP! 93% precincts in and Santorum leads Romney by 45 votes.
11:20 pm: AMAZING: With 92% of votes in, Romney leads Santorum by 13 votes.
11:10 pm: Romney leads by 125 votes.
11:08 pm: ROMNEY NOW LEADS 24.7%, Santorum 24.6%, with 89.3% of precincts in.
10:51 pm: NBC News projects third place finish for . . . RON PAUL!!
10:50 pm: Coming down to the finish line: 88% In – Santorum 25%, Romney 25%, Paul 21%
10:35 pm: 54% in, Ron Paul fading.
10:12 pm: 48% reporting and Santorum on top via CNN:
9:52 pm: Via WaPo: Only 189 votes separate Romney, Paul, Santorum.
9:50 pm: 31% reporting and it’s 23% -23% – 23%. Politics at its finest, my friends.
9:36 pm: NYT’s Nate Silver say this could be the closest Iowa Caucus ever. Only 300 votes separate first and third place.
With fewer than 300 votes separating first-place Ron Paul from third-place Mitt Romney in votes counted so far, it should go without saying that we may be headed for a photo finish.
The closest caucus historically came in 1996, when Bob Dole finished with 26 percent of the vote, Pat Buchanan 23 percent, and Lamar Alexander with 18 percent. The 8-point gap separating Mr. Dole and Mr. Alexander may wind up being much larger than the margin separating the top three candidates tonight.
9:31 pm: 22% reporting.
9:14 pm: Over 50% of those under age of 30 are going for Ron Paul.
9:08 pm: 15.2% reporting, could be a long night if it stays this close.
8:58 pm: 6% now reporting, race narrowing.
8:54 pm: Fox News makes a bold prediction – Bachmann will finish in last place.
8:42 pm: First results coming in. Santorum looking strong. (2.8% precincts reporting)
8:25 pm: Here’s what the second tier looks like from the CNN entrance poll, Gingrich at 13%, Perry at 11%, Bachmann at 7% and Huntsman at 1%
Update 8:21 pm: CNN entrance poll of early caucus goers shows Paul and Romney tied at 24%, Santorum 18%.
Update 8:18 pm: Here’s a link to CNN’s entrance poll results.
Update 8:05 pm: CNN says its entrance polling shows Paul, Romney and Santorum in the top tier, followed by Gingrich, Perry, Bachmann and Perry.
8:01 pm. EST: Time to rumble.