With 62% of votes in, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has a narrow lead over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders with 26.9% of the vote as compared to 25.1%. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren follows with 18.3%.
Perhaps the most shocking result of all is Joe Biden in fourth place with 15.6%. That's just above the threshold, but now he will really need to fare much better in New Hampshire and Nevada and win big in South Carolina at month's end. Joni Ernst might be tempted to brag, but having attended Democratic debates for more than six months now I can tell you that he garners very little enthusiasm.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar comes in fifth at 12.6% of the vote. It's double digits, but shy of the 15% threshold. It remains to be seen if Klobuchar will compete in New Hampshire as she is in single digits in the Granite state although she has made the stage for this Friday's debate in Manchester.
Andrew Yang finished with 1% of the vote. Everyone else were also-rans.
If Buttigieg manages to hold this lead it will justify the tone of what could only be called a victory speech he delivered just after midnight Iowa time. No doubt he will have benefitted from all having all the time he wanted in Iowa with Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar having to spend considerable time in D.C. for President Trump's impeachment trial.
If an Iowa victory is the high water mark for Buttigieg then he will have far exceeded anything anyone imagined for him when he entered the race more than a year ago.
Naturally, Buttigieg won't be content with just Iowa. He's come this far. Why not go all the way to Milwaukee and from there to the White House?
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