IOWA – In a dramatic twist in the Democratic primaries in Iowa, Pete Buttigieg held a narrow lead over Bernie Sanders on Tuesday in long-delayed results from the chaotic Iowa Democratic Party caucuses, while former Vice President Joe Biden trailed badly in fourth place with about 71% of precincts reporting.
The Iowa Democratic Party released partial results of its kickoff presidential caucus after a daylong delay on Tuesday showing Buttigieg, the moderate 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, had 26.8% of state delegate equivalents, the data traditionally reported to determine the winner. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, had 25.2%, Senator Elizabeth Warren was at 18.4% and former Vice President Joe Biden trailed badly in fourth place, with only 15.5%. Senator Amy Klobuchar was fifth at 12.6%.
The results followed 24 hours of chaos as technical issues marred the contest, forcing state officials to apologize and raising questions about Iowa's traditional place atop the presidential primary calendar.
Buttigieg, who if elected would be the first openly gay US president, has argued it is time for a new generation of leaders and that his lack of experience in Washington makes him an ideal candidate to break the partisan gridlock in the nation's capital
Biden's poor showing shakes establishment support
Biden's third presidential bid enters a critical stretch after the disappointing finish in Iowa, which sent the former vice president on to New Hampshire with a skittish donor base, low cash reserves and the looming threat of billionaire rival Michael Bloomberg and his unlimited personal wealth.
In New Hampshire on Tuesday, Biden insisted he had a "good night" in Iowa even as he trailed behind Buttigieg Sanders.
That leaves some establishment Democrats, including some Biden supporters, questioning his contention that he will reclaim clear front-runner status in the race against President Donald Trump once the primary fight moves beyond overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire to more racially diverse electorates. And it's a reminder of how Biden's previous presidential campaigns never advanced beyond Iowa.
Most precarious for Biden: Some of the would-be donors he could win over with a strong showing are giving new looks to Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor whose entire strategy of sitting out the four early nominating states is pegged to the possibility that Biden falters. Bloomberg, one of the world's wealthiest men with a net worth approaching $60 billion, isn't asking for money. He's simply looking for support that could cut off financial lifelines to Biden, whose campaign reported just $9 million cash on hand to start the year.
That's patronage Biden needs to remain competitive with Buttigieg, as well as Warren and Sanders, who have raised massive sums from small-dollar online contributors who have been far less generous to Biden.
Biden aides have said for months that he didn't have to win in Iowa or on Feb. 11 in New Hampshire because he was better positioned in Nevada's Feb. 22 caucuses, South Carolina's Feb. 29 primary and a slate of March 3 primaries with more than a third of Democrats' national delegates at stake on a single day.
That never meant, however, that Biden could sustain a bad showing in Iowa and New Hampshire. The approach was also an expensive one, requiring deep campaign reserves to finance advertising and staffing in Nevada, South Carolina and delegate-rich states like California and Texas.
Biden has a campaign footprint across the March primary map, with paid staff or volunteer offices in 13 states. But his cash flow raises questions about how much he can bolster his existing operation. His uneasy financial situation is underscored by an affiliated super PAC that spent more on Iowa ads than the campaign itself, but still has struggled to raise money and has little left over after Iowa.
An effectively two-person race between Sanders and the former vice president, Biden confidants believed, would open the financial spigot, firm up his advantages among nonwhite voters and win over skeptical white moderates now aligned with Buttigieg or Klobuchar.
Biden took the same approach Tuesday on the campaign trail, hammering Sanders as directly as he has in weeks. "It's time to get real about health care," he said as he compared his proposal to expand existing insurance markets with a "public option" to Sanders' "Medicare for All" idea. Sanders has been pushing single-payer insurance for "30 years now," Biden said, and "hasn't moved it an inch."
Still, Buttigieg and Klobuchar have their own challenges if they hope to displace Biden as the presumed establishment favorite. They both have negligible nonwhite support, and Klobuchar especially has far more financial obstacles than Biden.
AP and Reuters contributed to this report
