Buttigieg says 'just no question' Iowa a victory for his candidacy as lead narrows
Speaking at a fundraiser in New York on Wednesday night, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg continued to tout the results in Iowa, saying, “There is just no question that Monday in Iowa represents an astonishing victory for our vision, for our candidacy and for this country.”
Buttigieg hailed the results as a demonstration of his ability to win across rural, suburban and urban areas, as well as places that previously voted for President Donald Trump.
At the time Buttigieg made the remarks, 92 percent of Iowa precincts were reporting. With 97 percent now in, he retains only a slight lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Iowa Democrats say Trump supporters called into vote counting hotline, causing them more problems
An Iowa Democratic Party official told NBC News that as it experienced "an unusually high volume of inbound phone calls to its caucus hotline" after an app created to reported results had faltered Monday night, including from "supporters of President [Donald] Trump."
Iowa precinct chairs had to use that hotline to report vote tallies following mishaps with the app, but many were met with lengthy wait times in order to get through. That phone number was posted online, worsening the problem.
Trump supporters calling the hotline was first reported by Bloomberg News.
Iowa Democrats did not respond to NBC News' requests for information on how many individuals manned the phone lines Monday night. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"At the outset of boiler room operations on February 3rd, the Iowa Democratic Party experienced an unusually high volume of inbound phone calls to its caucus hotline," An Iowa Democratic Party official told NBC News.
"These included callers who would hang up immediately after being connected, supporters of President Trump who called to express their displeasure with the Democratic Party, and Iowans looking to confirm details for their evening’s caucus."
"Party staff and volunteers flagged and subsequently blocked repeat callers who appeared to be reaching out in an attempt to interfere with their reporting duties," the party official continued. "Veterans of past boiler room operations described the volume of calls as highly irregular compared to previous caucuses. The unexplained, and at times hostile, calls contributed to the delay in the Iowa Democratic Party’s collection of results, but in no way affected the integrity of information gathered or the accuracy of data sets reported."
Buttigieg's slim lead narrows with 97 percent reporting
Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg's slim lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., narrowed early Thursday, according to the latest Iowa caucus results.
The candidates remain in the same positions with 97 percent of results reported — 1,711 out of 1,765 precincts. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is in third place, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Buttigieg's narrow lead holds with 92 percent reporting
Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg continues to lead Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the latest batch of Iowa results, which was released by the state Democratic Party late Wednesday.
With 92 percent of the results reported, the candidates remain in the same positions. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is in the third place, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Iowa caucus app was rushed and flawed from the beginning, experts say
The smartphone app that caused a significant delay in reporting Iowa caucuses results suffered from technical and design flaws, and appeared to have been rushed into use, according to cybersecurity experts who examined a version of the app that was made public.
The app became the subject of widespread scrutiny after the Iowa Democratic Party said problems with reporting caucus results were partially due to “coding issues” with the app, which was being used for the first time.
Developers who were able to look at a version of the app that was made public said it suffered from two problems.
Corrected batch of results narrows Buttigieg's lead over Sanders
The corrected batch of Iowa caucus results released by the state Democratic Party on Wednesday night slightly narrowed former Mayor Pete Buttigieg's lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
With 86 percent of the results now reported, the candidates remain in the same positions, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in the third spot, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden in fourth and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in fifth.