CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Might the Democrats have a competition on their hands for the 2016 presidential nomination? It looked that way for one evening in Iowa, at least.

All five announced major Democratic presidential candidates gathered for the annual Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Dinner, their first time together in one room during this campaign season.

Each candidate was allotted a section of the ballroom, packed with over 1,300 people, to group their supporters, which led to certain pockets of the room giving standing ovation during each of the candidate's 15-minute speeches. The candidates mostly avoiding taking shots at each other, but trained plenty of fire on the Republicans.

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Hillary Clinton was the clear front-runner. "I'm never going to let the Republicans rip away the progress we have made," she vowed. "Trickle-down economics has to be one of the worst ideas of the 1980s. It is right up there with New Coke, shoulder pads and big hair. I lived through it — there are photographs — and we're not going back."

Clinton went on to zing surging Republican candidate Donald Trump, quipping "finally, a candidate whose hair gets more attention than mine." She criticized the policy decisions of newly announced candidate Scott Walker regarding reproductive rights and union workers. She also chided the GOP on climate change, noting that many Republicans claim not to be "scientists." She retorted, "I'm not a scientist either! I'm just a grandmother with two eyes and a brain!"

Martin O'Malley surprisingly was the next best received candidate, giving a soaring speech about traditional progressive values he hopes to restore the American dream. As usual, he focused his anger on the "crooks of Wall Street," calling for the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall and reining in Wall Street spending. The former Maryland governor recently released a detailed policy agenda to combat financial fraud in the private sector.

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O'Malley boasted, "I'm not the only candidate in the Democratic Party with progressive values, but I am the only one with 15 years of executive experience."

Bernie Sanders began his speech to chants of his name, and what sounded like cow bells coming from his corner of the room. But as the Vermont senator took the stage the crowd became more subdued.

As he called for "political revolution" and "changing the establishment" the audience remained relatively silent compared to the boisterous uproar and standing ovations Clinton and O'Malley received. This was despite the fact that his Friday night remarks largely mirrored the stump speech that has been drawing crowds in the thousands on the campaign trail.

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Sens. Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee earned the least effusive crowd reactions. Webb focused heavily on foreign policy, telling the crowd he would oppose the Iranian nuclear deal to very little applause. Chafee gave an idealistic talk focusing on his hope for greener, more peaceful future. Though a former Republican himself, Chafee decried the "failed unilateral, bellicose Republican view of the world."

Clinton, Sanders and O'Malley had traveled throughout the state Friday while Webb and Chafee only attended the main event.