The Iowa Democratic Party has released the first 62% of the Caucus results, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is leading with a 26.9% plurality of the state delegates.
Buttigieg told supporters Tuesday evening that the early results represent “an astonishing victory for this campaign.”
“So, we don’t know all of the numbers, but we know this much,” Buttigieg said. “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 to replace the current president with a better vision for the future.”
The numbers as they currently stand show Buttgieg with a slim one percent lead over Sanders, who follows at roughly 25%.
BREAKING: The Iowa Democratic Party has released 62% of its caucus results.
Pete Buttigieg leads with about 27% in the State Delegate Equivalent count.
Bernie Sanders follows with about 25%.
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— NPR (@NPR) February 4, 2020
While Buttigieg currently has the most state delegates, the Sanders campaign has received the highest share of the popular vote.
The Iowa Democrats’ release of the popular vote numbers for the first and second rounds of the caucus is unprecedented.
The popular vote does not determine who wins Iowa.
Sanders campaign advisor Jeff Weaver said the Sanders campaign “is gratified” by the results showing Sanders in command of the popular vote.
The Buttigieg campaign has spent a massive amount of cash on the first four primary states, with estimates being placed in the $30-40 million range.
National File’s Patrick Howley reported Tuesday that the Buttigieg campaign paid $42,500 to the company Shadow Inc., which built the failed app that rendered caucus results completely unavailable:
The Democrat presidential campaigns of Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg paid the firm that reportedly built the failed Iowa caucus app that partly rendered the results of the caucus unavailable at the end of Monday night’s contest. In the absence of results, Buttigieg declared victory and the other candidates including Biden portrayed confidence.
Buzzfeed confirmed, including with a presidential campaign, that the firm Shadow built the app that frustrated Democrat vote counters, rendering it technically impossible for some to register the results in their area and forcing direct calls to the state party office in Des Moines.
The firm Shadow Inc. accepted a $1,225 payment from the Joe Biden campaign for “text messaging,” and two payments totaling $42,500 from South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign for “software rights and subscriptions”, according to a Federal Election Commission filing. The Shadow firm was also paid by Kirsten Gillibrand’s failed presidential campaign and the state Democrat parties of Iowa, Texas and Nevada.
Shadow Inc.’s CEO Gerard Niemira served as senior product manager and then Director of Product for Hillary For America during Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. His LinkedIn page states that he was “Promoted during the campaign to lead the small but mighty team in charge of all of the campaign’s tools for field organizers and volunteers.” Niemira runs Shadow with fellow Clinton campaign tech alum Krista Davis.
The Joe Biden campaign, often considered the biggest rival to Sanders, also paid Shadow Inc., sparking questions about the DNC’s commitment to fair treatment of the Sanders campaign.
