WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the Iowa caucuses on Monday, upsetting predicted GOP winner Donald Trump who just narrowly edged out Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for second place.

"Tonight is a victory for courageous conservatives across Iowa and all across this great nation," Cruz exclaimed to supporters as final votes were counted Monday night and his victory in Iowa secured.

The first signs appeared tonight that Trump may be vulnerable despite commanding leads in months past in countless national polls leading up to the first real showdown of the 2016 presidential race in Iowa on Monday. Trump barely managed to hold off Florida Sen. Marco Rubio who surged late in the polls as votes were counted Monday evening, resulting in Trump narrowly defeating Rubio to claim second place in the Iowa caucus.

"This is no ordinary election," Rubio told supporters. "Our performance tonight in Iowa is an important step towards winning this election." Rubio emerges from Iowa as the candidate to watch as the 2016 battle for president wages on toward the next stop in New Hampshire.

With 94 percent of the vote in at 11 p.m. Monday night, Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were neck-and-neck as the final votes were counted. As of 11 p.m. the race was too close to call. UPDATED: 1:34 p.m. Hillary Clinton has won the Iowa Democratic caucuses, according to final results from the Iowa Democratic Party. In a narrow victory that was not called until early Tuesday afternoon, Clinton received 49.9 percent of the vote to Sanders 49.6 percent. 

Also of note Monday night, Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, the GOP winner of the 2008 Iowa caucus  announced he was suspending his campaign after a less than stellar performance. Southern Torch will provide updates from Iowa as the final votes come in. Stay tuned.