2020 candidates react to Iowa caucus recanvassing
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told reporters on Thursday that he is not concerned about the DNC calling for a recanvass of votes after a confusing, protracted Iowa caucus underscored by "inconsistencies" found in election data.
“We won an 8-person election by some 6,000 votes," Sanders said after hearing DNC chair Tom Perez calling for the recanvass. "That is not going to change.”
As of Thursday, Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, had his lead over Sanders narrowed with 97 percent of the caucus vote released. Though the Iowa Democratic caucus results are not actual votes cast and the percentages released are known as state delegate equivalents, or SDEs - calculated through an algorithm - Sanders lead Buttigieg in raw vote totals.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., supported the decision. She told NBC News on Thursday that "you have to make sure that every single vote was counted."
"Sometimes in caucuses things can be close," she said. "You have to go back in and figure it out."
A recanvass is essentially a double-checking of the vote through a hand audit of caucus worksheets and reporting forms to verify calculations.
DNC chair calls for Iowa to recanvass caucus vote, says 'enough is enough'
Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez is calling on Iowa Democratic officials to immediately recanvass Monday's caucus vote after days of uncertainty and growing concerns about the accuracy of the results.
"Enough is enough," Perez said in a tweet. "In light of the problems that have emerged in the implementation of the delegate selection plan and in order to assure public confidence in the results, I am calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass."
Pete Buttigieg was clinging to the narrowest of leads in Iowa over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Thursday, with 97 percent of the caucus vote released.
Some Iowa results have been in the mail
Iowa Democrats have been delayed in reporting 100 percent of the results of Monday night's caucuses because some precinct chairs mailed in their worksheets Tuesday morning, and a small number of packets have been in the mail, according to a participant in a Democratic conference call Wednesday night and an Iowa Democratic official familiar with what was discussed.
Troy Price, the Iowa Democratic Party chairman, told participants on the call that the party's call center was overwhelmed with call volume and that the Democratic National Committee offered assistance with their own call center, the sources also said.
A more combative Biden works to stave off collapse after Iowa letdown
NASHUA, N.H. — Iowa may have been a “gut punch” for Joe Biden, but the next two states could deliver a knockout blow to his presidential bid if he doesn’t deliver a better performance.
The former vice president has grown more combative with his main Democratic rivals this week in an attempt to shore up his support in primaries in New Hampshire and Nevada, where victory is far from assured. Going 0 for 3 would risk shattering the front-runner status Biden has held nationally, and raise questions about his unique “electability” against President Donald Trump — the central argument of his candidacy.
And so on Wednesday, Biden ripped into Pete Buttigieg as “a risk” due to his inexperience, and blasted Bernie Sanders’ “democratic socialist” label as lacking viability in a general election. "Donald Trump is desperate to pin the label of ‘socialist’ on our party. We can’t let him do that," Biden told voters at a campaign event in New Hampshire this week.
Buttigieg responds to Iowa voter who pulled her support after realizing he's gay
Pete Buttigeig on Wednesday praised a campaign volunteer who responded to an Iowa caucusgoer's decision to rescind her support after learning that Buttigieg is in same-sex marriage, saying he was proud that the volunteer had spoke to the woman "with respect."
MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle asked the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, about a viral video of the encounter.
“How real is that? How big of an issue is that for you?” Ruhle asked.
Buttigieg, who has been married to Chasten Buttigieg since 2018, said he “felt proud of our organizer volunteer,” precinct captain Nikki van den Heever, “who on my behalf was speaking to her and speaking to her with respect.”
A more combative Biden works to stave off collapse after Iowa letdown
Iowa may have been a “gut punch” for Joe Biden, but the next two states could deliver a knockout blow to his presidential bid if he doesn’t deliver a better performance.
The former vice president has grown more combative with his main Democratic rivals this week in an attempt to shore up his support in New Hampshire and Nevada, where victory is far from assured. Going 0 for 3 would risk shattering the front-runner status Biden has held nationally, and raise questions about his unique “electability” against President Donald Trump — the central argument for his candidacy.
And so on Wednesday, Biden ripped into Pete Buttigieg as “a risk” due to his inexperience, and blasted Bernie Sanders’ “democratic socialist” label as lacking viability in a general election. "Donald Trump is desperate to pin the label of ‘socialist’ on our party. We can’t let him do that," he told voters in New Hampshire.
Buttigieg, Sanders neck and neck in Iowa with nearly all votes reported
Pete Buttigieg was clinging to the narrowest of leads in Iowa over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Thursday, with 97 percent of the caucus vote released.
Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was at 26.2 percent and Sanders had 26 percent, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren running behind at 18.2 percent. Former Vice President Joe Biden had 15.8 percent, Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 12.2 percent and other candidates were in low single digits.
Iowa Democratic caucus results are not actual votes cast. The percentages, based on partial returns of the estimated number of state convention delegates won by each candidate through the caucus process, are known as state delegate equivalents, or SDEs.
The totals were put out by the Iowa Democratic Party over the past two days after chaos over the caucuses on Monday night. More data may be released on Thursday.
NBC News has not called a winner in the first-in-the-nation contest.
'Clog the lines': Iowa caucus hotline posted online with encouragement to disrupt results reporting
The phone number to report Iowa caucus results was posted on a fringe internet message board on Monday night along with encouragement to “clog the lines,” an indication that jammed phone lines that left some caucus managers on hold for hours may have in part been due to prank calls.
An Iowa Democratic Party official said the influx of calls to the reporting hotline included “supporters of President Trump who called to express their displeasure with the Democratic Party.” The party official’s comments were first reported late Wednesday by Bloomberg News.
Users on a politics-focused section of the fringe 4chan message board repeatedly posted the phone number for the Iowa Democratic Party, which was found by a simple Google search, both as screenshots and in plain text, alongside instructions.
"They have to call in the results now. Very long hold times being reported. Phone line being clogged," one user posted at about 11 p.m. ET on Monday, two hours after the caucuses began.