First to Drop: O'Malley, Huckabee

Martin O'Malley, running a distant third in a tight Democratic race and having collected zero delegates and less than 1% of the vote in Iowa, is the first casualty as the nation casts its first votes in the 2016 presidential election, report the AP and Talking Points Memo. O'Malley's exit was followed quickly on the Republican side by Mike Huckabee, who announced via Twitter that he was leaving the race, eight years after he won the Iowa caucuses, reports Politico. "I am officially suspending my campaign," he tweeted. "Thank you for all your loyal support." Huckabee was showing less than 2% of the vote Monday evening.

O'Malley's candidacy likewise never took hold; it emerged earlier Thursday that the former Maryland governor took out a $500,000 loan in December to keep his campaign afloat, reports the Washington Post. And while speculation often centered around O'Malley's chances as a vice presidential candidate or Cabinet member, FiveThirtyEight notes that with his mediocre polling in even his home state of Maryland, his chances of being tapped for a loftier position are unlikely. (More Martin O'Malley stories.)