Tom Brenner/Getty ImagesTopline: Following a conciliatory press conference Tuesday afternoon, Iowa Democratic Party officials released partial results from the state’s caucus showing Pete Buttigieg leading the field, with Bernie Sanders close behind, though only 62% of the vote has been made public. While Buttigieg leads in delegates, the early results show that Sanders is winning the popular vote (Sanders has 27,088 votes, Buttigieg 23,666 and Warren 20,848). Key background: For the first time, the Democratic Party is releasing three different results tallied during each stage of Iowa’s unusual caucusing process. The “first alignment” result showed caucus-goers’ preferences in the first round of voting (this is equivalent to the popular vote in the state). Whoever gets the highest State Delegate Equivalent wins Iowa, and that number is proportionally translated into how many of the state’s 41 national delegates each candidate gets.

Source: Forbes February 04, 2020 22:18 UTC