Oh, did you think we were going to find out who’s been officially declared the Iowa winner by now? Please.
2020 presidential primary rivals Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg are still left in a virtual tie even after all the Iowa precincts reported their final caucus results on Thursday night.
The final results have Buttigieg and Sanders winning 26.2% and 26.1% of Iowa’s SDEs, respectively; the same razor-thin difference seen earlier on Thursday when 97% of precincts had reported their votes. The Associated Press said it is “unable to declare a winner” even after the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) released all the results.
Buttigieg lead by two SDEs with his total of 564 to Sanders’ 562, while Sanders lead the popular vote with his total of 45,826 to Buttigieg’s 43,195.
Both candidates have declared victory in the state this week as the IDP scrambled to clean up the disaster of Tuesday’s caucuses caused by a faulty vote tallying app and pro-Trump trolls reportedly flooding the caucus hotlines.
Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez called on the IDP to begin a recanvass of the caucus votes on Thursday afternoon, saying that “enough is enough.” IDP Chair Tony Price released a statement that did not give a direct response to Perez’s request, saying only that the state party would hold a recanvass “should any presidential campaign” request it.
Perez told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow that he was calling for a recanvass in individual precincts, not statewide.
“The reason why I think it’s important is because I want to make sure that every Iowa voter knows that their vote was counted,” he said. “And I want to make sure every voter across this country knows that their vote was counted and that we take our commitment to accuracy very seriously.”
Tom Perez says DNC is calling for "individual precincts" to be recanvassed in Iowa. pic.twitter.com/nF114PUpb4
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 7, 2020
Correction: The final results revealed Buttigieg had won 26.2% of Iowa delegates while Sanders won 26.1%. The original story had erroneously stated Buttigieg received 26.1% of the delegates while Sanders received 26.2%.
