Immigration, Ukraine and Trump: key takeaways from Republican debate

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley clashed over the course of a two-hour debate which once again the former president skipped

The Republican debates have been anticlimactic since they started late last summer, with the broad pool of candidates winnowing over time and frontrunner Donald Trump refusing to attend.

Tonight's event saw Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor, and Ron DeSantis, Florida governor, vying for second place in a head-to-head debate just days before the Iowa caucus, the first official election year contest. Here's what you need to know about the two-hour broadcast in Des Moines.