Iowa Democratic Party Releases Caucus Update Showing Pete Buttigieg Winning Most Delegates
The Iowa Democratic Party has released an update on its delegate allocation after this week’s contentious caucus, showing former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg ending in the lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The updated numbers showed that Buttigieg will leave the caucus with a total of 14 pledged national delegates for this summer’s Democratic National Convention, just edging out Sanders who had 12. Sanders had won the popular vote on both rounds of voting, the initial round where those in the caucus select their preferred candidate, and the second round where those supporting candidates with less than 15 percent of the vote are able to re-assemble with a second candidate. Due to the rules about allocation, Buttigieg was able to win the metric that matters the most toward determining the Democratic Party’s nominee.
The final results showed a disappointing result for former Vice President Joe Biden, who polls had shown as the frontrunner for months leading up to the Iowa caucus. He came in fourth with six delegates, also falling behind Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren with eight. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar will receive one delegate. No other candidate received enough support in Iowa to take delegates to the convention from the race.
This year’s Iowa caucus was riddled with controversy after an app that the Iowa Democratic Party had put in place to report results from caucus sites failed, leading to lengthy delays and a vote count that was announced gradually over the course of the week. Sunday’s final allocation confirmed earlier numbers showing Buttigieg in a slight lead.
Many of the candidates criticized the Iowa Democratic Party for the handling of the caucus and the long delay in releasing results. Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez has already called on Iowa to recanvass results for the entire race to ensure that the votes were correctly tabulated.
By the time the final delegate allocation was announced on Sunday, candidates had already turned their attention to Tuesday’s primary in New Hampshire. Polls released over the weekend showed that Buttigieg and Sanders appeared to be in a tight race, including a Suffolk University poll that showed Buttigieg ahead by one point.
Other polling more strongly favored Sanders, including the second release of a CNN poll that showed Sanders had opened up a 10-point lead on the rest of the field. Sanders, who represents neighboring Vermont, scored one of this biggest wins of the 2016 primary in New Hampshire before ultimately losing to Hillary Clinton.
