Buttigieg owns slight edge in Iowa race
Democrats won’t give timeline for full count
NEW YORK – Pete Buttigieg clung to a slight lead over Bernie Sanders in a new batch of vote totals released by the Iowa Democratic Party on Wednesday, two days after the state hosted its first-inthe-nation presidential caucuses.
But the race remained too early to call with 92% of precincts reporting.
Much of the political world has already shifted its attention to next-up New Hampshire, which holds the first primary election in the Democrats’ 2020 nomination fight on Tuesday.
Iowa officials attributed their delay to technical problems. The chaos surrounding the reporting breakdown has undermined the impact of Iowa’s election, which typically rewards winners with a surge of momentum heading into subsequent primary contests.
The two early leaders – Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Vermont Sen. Sanders – are separated by 40 years in age and conflicting ideology.
Sanders, a 78-year-old self-described democratic socialist, has been a progressive powerhouse for decades. Buttigieg, a 38-year-old former municipal official, represents the more moderate wing of the Democratic Party. Buttigieg is also the first openly gay candidate to earn presidential primary delegates.
Wednesday’s updated results show Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar trailing.
The Democrats’ primary fight intensified in New Hampshire on Wednesday as Biden took aim at both Iowa frontrunners.
The former vice president suggested that Sanders was unelectable and would hurt other Democrats on the ballot this fall should he represent the party in the general election. Biden also charged that it would be “a risk” to nominate Buttigieg because he hasn’t been elected to a higher office than South Bend mayor.
Speaking at a candidate forum in New Hampshire, Buttigieg was focused on the issues.
He said a shift in emotion from “guilt and doom” to pride is needed to propel the nation forward on climate change.
For Buttigieg, his early standing cemented his transformation from a littleknown city leader to a legitimate force in the 2020 contest.
Buttigieg’s early rise was rivaled for possible importance only by the struggle of Biden.
Biden’s campaign sought to play down the caucus results even before they were released, hardly a measure of strength for a high-profile contender who has led national polls for most of the last year.
While all campaigns were eager to spin the Iowa results to their advantage, there was little immediate indication that the incomplete results erased the confusion and concern that loomed over the caucuses. It was unclear when the full results would be released.
During a private conference call with campaigns earlier in the day, the chairman of the state party, Troy Price, declined to answer questions about the timeline – even whether it would be days or weeks.
“We have been working day and night to make sure these results are accurate,” Price said at a subsequent news conference.
The leading candidates pressed on in New Hampshire, which votes this coming Tuesday. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, a former New York City mayor, sensed opportunity after Iowa, and said he would double his already massive advertising campaign.
The caucus crisis was an embarrassing twist after months of promoting Iowa as a chance for Democrats to find some clarity in a jumbled field. Instead, after a buildup that featured seven rounds of debates, nearly $1 billion spent nationwide and a year of political jockeying, caucus day ended with no winner, no official results and many fresh questions about whether Iowa can retain its coveted “first” status.
Before he left Iowa late Monday, Sanders said, “Today marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump.”
For the first time, the Iowa Democratic Party reported three sets of results this year: a tally of caucusgoers’ initial candidate preference; vote totals from the “final alignment” after supporters of lower-ranking candidates were able to make a second choice, and the total number of State Delegate Equivalents each candidate received.
The Associated Press will declare a winner based on the number of state delegates each candidate wins, which has been the traditional standard.