Several hundred people crowded in an Iowa church Thursday. Among them was first-time caucus-goer Tony W. Wang ’11, who came to support Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

“Each time we convinced someone to come over to the Obama side, we started cheering,” Wang said of the Democratic caucus process during which participants must decide which of the leading candidates will get their vote.

Wang and several other Harvard undergrads were among many first time caucus-goers who are widely credited with contributing to Obama’s eight-point victory.

This year, 57 percent of young Democratic voters supported Obama and the number of Iowa caucus-goers under the age of 30 tripled compared with 2004.

Obama enjoys strong support on college campuses, including Harvard. More than half of the political contributions made by Harvard professors and staff in the first quarter of 2007 went to Obama, who graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991.

Katherine M. Thompson ’10 said she and many of her friends also caucused for Obama.

“I wasn’t really surprised [by the results] because I think that young people tend to fall under the radar of polls,” said Thompson, noting that polls had predicted a tight race between Obama, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clindon, and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards in the weeks leading up to the caucuses.

Like in many Iowa households, loyalties in the Thompson family were divided among various candidates. While Katherine Thompson caucused for Obama, her father served as a precinct captain for Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, and her mother, also a first time caucus participant, caucused for Edwards.

Edwards surprised many by taking second place, beating Clinton by 1 percent.

“I was thrilled with Edwards’ results. We were far outspent and we were up against two celebrity candidates­—Obama and Hillary,” said Markus R.T. Kolic ’09, who is chair of the Harvard Students for Edwards.

Kolic will join Harvard students from both the Democratic and Republican camps as they head to New Hampshire today to try to influence the wide-open races.

“There were real choices and there wasn’t a certain outcome,” said Pippa Norris II, lecturer on comparative politics at the Kennedy School of Government.

“It was an open race with no vice presidential or presidential incumbent, an economy which is going downhill, and residual anger over Iraq,” she said. “It’s a perfect storm.”

The results on the Republican side were similarly surprising, as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won with 34 percent.

His closest competitor, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney received 25 percent, despite spending a significant amount of time in the state and donating millions of his own money to the campaign effort. Romney is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School.

Tim P. McCarthy ’93, an adviser to Obama and a lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School, said he sees many similarities between Huckabee and Obama.

“I do think that he and Obama do represent this new sentiment for change,” he said. “They are the two youngest and the two most likable candidates.”

—Staff writer Abby D. Phillip can be reached at adphill@fas.harvard.edu.