Despite the most recent polling showing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on the decline in Iowa, the presidential candidate finished a strong but distant second to former president Donald Trump in the Monday night Iowa caucuses.

"They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us," DeSantis said at a campaign event after the night was over. "They spent almost fifty million dollars attacking us. No one's faced that much just through Iowa."

"The media was against us," he added. "They were writing our obituary months ago."

A stunning poll from the Des Moines Register and NBC News over the weekend showed DeSantis garnering just 16 percent in Iowa, with former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley coming in at 20 percent. A subsequent Emerson poll had Haley at 21 percent and DeSantis at 15 percent.

On Monday night, it was DeSantis poised to collect over 20 percent of the caucus vote, with Haley just behind him at around 19 percent as of the time of this story's publication.

The DeSantis campaign focused almost exclusively on Iowa in the run-up to caucus day. He toured the entire state, hitting all 99 counties in an ambition campaign maneuver known as the "Full Grassley," named after Sen. Chuck Grassley, who does the same every time he is up for re-election.

The night was not without controversy, however. Multiple news outlets declared Trump the winner before many of the caucus-goers even had a chance to vote - and the reporting was done in clear violation of many of those outlets' stated policies on reporting before all votes were in.

"It is absolutely outrageous that the media would participate in election interference by calling the race before tens of thousands of Iowans even had a chance to vote," said Communications Director Andrew Romeo. "The media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet."

There have been multiple reports of caucus-goers seeing the news before voting, with some claiming that voters up and left without casting a vote as a result.

Despite that, however, DeSantis appeared to be hopeful after the night was over.

"Because of your support," he told his cheering supporters, "we got our ticket punched out of Iowa."

You can watch the full DeSantis speech below:

WATCH LIVE: Ron DeSantis Delivers Remarks at Caucus Night Watch Party https://t.co/N5QtCW5pmN

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 16, 2024