[EARLIER REPORTS BELOW]

1:02AM EST: As of this update, there are just 34 votes between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. Rick Santorum: 29,908 (25%), Mitt Romney: 29,874 (25%). 99% of the precincts are reporting.

12:24AM EST: Rick Perry said Tuesday night that he will return to Texas to “assess” whether there is a path for him to continue in the presidential campaign.

Mr. Perry, the governor of Texas, came in fifth in the Iowa caucuses, a disappointing finish after quickly — but briefly — jumping into first place in the race this summer.

But Mr. Perry said on Tuesday night that he had changed his mind. He did not officially drop out of the race, but said he would return to his home in Texas to decide what to do.

“This has to be the greatest honor of my life,” Mr. Perry said. “Our country was in trouble, and it was my duty to serve my country one more time. This campaign has never been about me.”

12:10AM EST: Michele Bachmann declined to drop out of the Republican presidential contest despite having come in last in the Iowa caucus, receiving only about five percent of the vote.

Speaking to her supporters, Mrs. Bachmann said that “the people of Iowa have spoken.”

But she declined to indicate whether she would drop out of the race in the near future, saying that “there are many more chapters to be written on our path to the nomination.”

Mrs. Bachmann railed against President Obama in her remarks, saying that the country would undo what she called “Barack Obama’s socialized medicine.”

She added: “We have strayed from the vision of our founders view of government.”

11:46PM EST: As of this update, there are just 109 votes between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. Rick Santorum: 29,017 (25%), Mitt Romney: 28,908 (25%). 96% of the precincts are reporting.

11:30PM EST: Newt Gingrich addressed his supporters at the campaign’s headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa. He said he thinks “we are at the beginning of an extraordinarily important campaign” to replace Obama and set America on the right course.

Gingrich praised Santorum for the positive campaign he ran, before taking an apparent swipe at Romney, saying “I wish I could say that about all the candidates.” He also criticized the foreign policy proposals of Rep. Paul before contrasting his record with that of Romney.

“We are not going to go out and run nasty ads,” Gingrich said, a reference to the negative ads from a super PAC that supports Romney’s candidacy that were aimed at him. “But I do reserve the right to tell the truth.”

11:19PM EST: Ron Paul claimed one of the three tickets out of Iowa after results showed him trailing the two leaders in the race, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

But even though he didn’t take first or second place, he said his was only “one of two that can actually raise a national campaign and can raise the money.”

Mr. Paul spoke to his supporters at about 10 p.m. Central time and said there was “nothing to be ashamed of” in placing third in the Iowa contest.

“This movement will continue,” he pledged.

Mr. Paul said that his campaign will go on to New Hampshire and the other states that follow.

“We will go on. We will raise the money,” he said. “I have no doubt about the volunteers. They are going to be there.”

11:10PM EST: Mitt Romney: 27,101 (25%), Rick Santorum: 26,976 (25%), Ron Paul: 23,155 (22%).

11:06PM EST: CNN projects that Ron Paul will come in third place followed by Gingrich in forth place, Perry in fifth place, Bachmann in sixth place and Huntsman in seventh place. With 88% of the vote reporting, it is still too close to call whether Romney or Santorum will come in first place.

11:00PM EST: As of this update, there are just 13 votes between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. Santorum is at 26,552 while Romney is at 26,539. 

10:30PM EST: The Iowa caucuses are too close to call, as early returns show Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney in a dead heat for the first-in-the-nation presidential contest.

With 45 percent of precincts reporting, Santorum led with 25 percent. Romney followed with 24 percent, Paul with 22 percent. The Fox News decision desk projects that only those three candidates are in contention for the top spot.

Fox News also projects that Michele Bachmann will finish last in Tuesday’s caucuses among the candidates who are competing there. Early returns show her with 6 percent. Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry are settling into the second tier, with Gingrich slightly ahead.