Ron Paul has to settle for the bronze in Iowa. The maverick Texas congressman is projected by the networks to place third in the Iowa caucus -- behind fellow Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

With 47.5 percent of the vote counted, the three leading Republican hopefuls in Iowa are Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. Santorum is leading, for the moment, with 24.3 percent -- less than 250 votes ahead of Romney. Paul is in third with 21.8 percent, a thousand votes behind Romney. Newt Gingrich is in fourth with 13.2 percent followed by Rick Perry with 10.1 percent.

With reports that her staff is telling her to get out of the race, Michele Bachmann takes 6 percent followed by Jon Huntsman who has yet to break 1 percent.

With early results showing former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich placing fourth in the Iowa caucus, the team behind the Republican presidential candidate -- who led briefly in the Hawkeye State in polls taken last month -- is pushing on to New Hampshire.

Ron Paul is a top contender to win the Iowa caucus on Tuesday night, but he is also ahead in the Drudge Report caucus. With almost 300,000 votes cast, Paul is winning with 31 percent followed by two of the other top contenders in Iowa -- Mitt Romney with 25 percent and Rick Santorum with 17 percent.

No matter what happens in the Iowa caucus on Tuesday night, a poll from Suffolk University/7NEWS released on Tuesday afternoon shows that the pack of Republican presidential hopefuls will have a hard time knocking off Mitt Romney in New Hampshire.

Despite winning the Iowa Republican straw poll in August, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is not expected to do well in the Iowa caucus on Tuesday night. While Bachmann had counted on a strong showing in the Hawkeye State to propel her bid for the Republican presidential nomination, she is now turning her eyes to South Carolina which is set to hold its primary on Jan. 21 -- after New Hampshire has its say on Jan. 10.

Trying to stay alive in the Republican presidential race and hoping to place in the top four in the Iowa caucus on Tuesday night, Texas Gov. Rick Perry made his final pitch in the Hawkeye State.

Paddy Power, the largest odds keeper in Ireland, looked out at the Iowa caucus and made Mitt Romney the favorite to win the event on Tuesday night. The former Massachusetts governor gets even odds to win the caucus. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are tied for second with 2-1 odds each, followed by Newt Gingrich at 20-1, Rick Perry at 33-1 and Michele Bachmann at 50-1. Jon Huntsman, who has ignored the caucus, is a severe underdog at 100-1.

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is starting to rise in the polls in Iowa -- leading to Gov. Rick Perry of Texas taking aim at his rival. Perry and Santorum are fighting for conservative votes in the Iowa presidential caucus on Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Ron Pauls rise in Iowa could lead to the Texas congressman doing well elsewhere -- something clearly on the mind of one of his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.

On Thursday, former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah released a Web video slamming Paul for newsletters he had sent out decades ago.