2020 race: Pete Buttigieg jumps to Dems lead after Iowa vote debacle

Former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg has emerged as the new frontrunner in the Democrat presidential race.

Former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, a 38-year-old Rhodes Scholar and Afghanistan veteran, has emerged as the new frontrunner in the Democrat presidential race after taking the lead in the crucial Iowa caucuses.

Mr Buttigieg, who would be the youngest president elected, and the first openly gay one, stunned his rivals by leading the caucuses with 26.8 per cent after 71 per cent of the vote had been counted.

Senator Bernie Sanders, the ­favourite going into the contest, also performed strongly, with 25.2 per cent of the vote.

Fellow liberal Elizabeth Warren was third with 18.4 per cent, and former vice-president Joe Biden a disappointing fourth on 15.4 per cent. The next closest was senator Amy Klobuchar with 12.6 per cent of the vote.

The result, although only a partial one, is a major boost for the Buttigieg campaign and a blow for the hopes of the one-time frontrunner Mr Biden.

An emotional Mr Buttigieg said: “We don’t know all of the numbers, but we know this much: a campaign that started a year ago with four staff members, no name recognition, no money, just a big idea — a campaign that some said should have no business even making this attempt — has taken its place at the front of this race.

“This validates the idea that we can have a message — the same message — connect in urban, rural and suburban communities, that we can reach out to Democrats, ­independents and even future former Republicans.”

In an apparent reference to being gay, he added: “And it validates for a kid somewhere in a community wondering if he ­belongs or she belongs or they ­belong in their community, if you believe in your country, there’s a lot backing up that belief.”

Senior Sanders adviser Jeff Weaver issued a statement saying: “We want to thank the people of Iowa. We are gratified that in the partial data released so far it’s clear that in the first and second round more people voted for Bernie than any other candidate in the field.”

Bernie Sanders talks to supporters in New Hampshire. Picture: AFP.

But the partial result is a blow for Mr Biden who ran a low-­energy campaign in Iowa, speaking mostly to smaller crowds than his rivals and focusing on the single message that he was the best placed person to defeat Donald Trump in the November election.

Mr Biden, who is popular with African-Americans, is expected to perform more strongly in states such as South Carolina which has a large black population compared the largely white rural population of Iowa.

But if Mr Biden performs ­poorly in next week’s New Hampshire primary, his campaign could be derailed before he has a chance to regain ground in larger and more diverse states.

The Iowa Democratic Party ­released the partial results on Wednesday (AEDT) after a catastrophic and embarrassing collapse of its vote-tallying system on caucus night which prevented any results being released.

The debacle derailed one of the biggest nights of the election year for the Democrats and saw the candidates fly to the next contest in New Hampshire without knowing if they had won or lost in Iowa.

State party chairman Troy Price apologised for the debacle that ­occurred because of a faulty app that prevented many votes being transmitted for counting. He said the delays were caused by “multiple reporting challenges” that were “unacceptable” and he said a “thorough examination will follow”.

But Mr Price refused to say when the other 38 per cent of the Iowa votes would be released to confirm which candidate had won.

Outsider candidates did not break through in Iowa, with ­Andrew Yang receiving just 1.1 per cent of the vote and Tom Steyer just 0.3 per cent.

The only candidate not to contest Iowa, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, ordered a doubling of his spending on election commercials as he concentrates on campaigning in the larger states rather than the early voting states.

The 12 person Democrat field is expected to be at least halved in the coming weeks as non-viable candidates drop out.

The Iowa result is usually known within hours of the conclusion of the caucuses, which do not involve a traditional ballot but see voters attending public gatherings and voicing support for the candidate of their choice. Iowa kicks off the process of ­selecting presidential nominees every four years, but the fiasco surrounding the results has increased calls for the state to lose the honour.

Donald Trump gleefully pounced on the chaos, describing the Democrats’ failure to deliver timely results as an “unmitigated disaster”.

The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is “Trump”.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2020

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: AFP