‘Mayor Pete’ soars to lead in Iowa poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) — South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg holds a clear lead among Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa, the state that will hold the first nominating contest in February, a new Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom opinion poll showed.

Buttigieg’s support climbed to 25 percent, a 16-point increase since the previous survey in September, CNN reported.

It said there was a close three-way battle for second with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 16 percent, and former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders each at 15 percent.

Since September, Warren dropped six percentage points and Biden slipped five points, while Sanders gained four points, CNN said.

Buttigieg, the 37-year-old gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana told the network the news was encouraging and his campaign felt growing momentum in the farm state, but there was “still a lot of work to do” in increasing his name recognition there.

“That’s extremely encouraging, obviously,” Buttigieg said.

“We have felt a lot of momentum on the ground.”

Buttigieg said that he has seen more enthusiasm for his candidacy in the state since

Buttigieg Labor Day and credited his strong performances in the debates and big state events with boosting his campaign.

Another bright spot in the numbers for Buttigieg was that 63 percent of likely caucusgoers think his views are about right, the highest of the four candidates tested.

Only seven percent say his views are too liberal, while 13 percent feel they’re too conservative.

Buttigieg also led Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa in a Monmouth University poll released on Tuesday.

A New York Times/Sienna poll released earlier this month also showed Buttigieg’s support surging in Iowa, but still behind Warren and Sanders.

Nationally, he does not fare nearly as well, averaging around eight per cent in polls.