Buttigieg, Sanders to win most national delegates in Iowa

WASHINGTON - The Associated Press/Anadolu Agency

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg emerged as the winners of Iowa's Democratic caucuses after a chaotic contest that saw the final results announced three days late.

Sanders, a leftist from Vermont who wants to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, and Buttigieg, a centrist who served in the armed forces, were in a near tie after all the vote tallies were finally collected on Feb. 6.

An online table showed that Buttigieg had received 26.2 percent of votes while Sanders received 26.1 percent, with both candidates getting 11 state convention delegates under the state's complicated primary voting rules.

Buttigieg and Sanders have each won at least 11 national delegates, with a handful of delegates still to be awarded. Elizabeth Warren has won at least five delegates, while Joe Biden has won at least two and Amy Klobuchar has at least one.

The tally also showed Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in third place with 18 percent and former Vice President Joe Biden trailing in fourth place at 15.8 percent — a big upset for a candidate who had been leading the pack.

In a statement, Troy Price, chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP), apologized to candidates and voters for a chaotic process that sullied the first poll for who would challenge President Donald Trump, a Republican, in November.

“While I fully acknowledge that the reporting circumstances on Monday night were unacceptable, we owe it to the thousands of Iowa Democratic volunteers and caucusgoers to remain focused on collecting and reviewing incoming results,” said Price.

“Throughout the collection of records of results, the IDP identified inconsistencies in the data and used our redundant paper records to promptly correct those errors. This is an ongoing process in close coordination with precinct chairs.”

Iowa will award 41 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer. There are 11 delegates still to be awarded as the state party sorts out the final results of the caucuses.

Candidates must win a majority of pledged delegates to the party’s national convention to win the Democratic nomination for president on the first ballot. This year, that’s 1,191 pledged delegates.

Democratic candidates will next compete in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.