Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg is claiming early victory for the second time following the release of partial results of the Democratic Caucus in Iowa on Tuesday night.
Buttigieg raised eyebrows by claiming victory on Monday night, before results were announced. The Democratic primary race was thrown into chaos by long delays in reporting the caucus results. The final outcome was still unknown as of Tuesday night, although officials did release partial results. With 62 percent of the vote counted, Buttigieg was leading the race, tying with Senator Bernie Sanders in pledged delegates, Newsweek reported.
“Results are in from a majority of precincts and they show our campaign in first place,” Buttigieg told supporters after the partial results were announced. “A campaign that some said had no business even making this attempt has taken its place at the front of this race to replace the current president with a better vision for the future.”
Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren also had strong showings in the early results. Former Vice President Joe Biden underperformed, coming in a distant fourth. However, a full 38 percent of results had yet to be counted and the final outcome could be significantly different than current standings.
The results were held up do to what Democratic party official characterized as “inconsistencies” due to technical problems in the app used to report the results. It is not clear why only 62 percent of the vote was released Tuesday night. Prior to the partial results being announced, Buttigieg proclaimed himself the victor a different crowd of supporters.
“We don’t know all the results, but we know by the time it’s all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation,” said Buttigieg on Monday. “By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.”
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