South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is getting some positive news. After a strong performance in the CNN/New York Times Democratic debate, Buttigieg is surging in the polls and emerging as a darkhorse candidate.
Among potential voters in the state of Iowa, Buttigieg sits behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
That means Buttigieg, who entered the Democratic race as a relative unknown, has jumped over Senator Bernie Sanders in the race for the nomination.
More impressively, however, is that Buttigieg doesn’t trail by much.
From the New York Post:
Pete Buttigieg has surged into third place in Iowa behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a new poll released on Monday shows. Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., got 13 percent of support from likely Democratic caucus-goers in the Hawkeye State, trailing only Biden at 18 percent and Warren at 17 percent, a Suffolk University/USA TODAY Poll found.
“Iowa is unquestionably up for grabs,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk Political Research Center. “Buttigieg has found a lane and is accelerating toward the front of the pack, surpassing Bernie Sanders.”
The poll was taken of 500 Democratic voters between October 16 and October 18 which was in the three days following the latest Democratic debate.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kamala Harris has continued her fall in the race. Harris, who was once sitting in second place, has fallen to sixth place where she is now tied with Congresswomen Tulsi Gabbard and Amy Klobuchar. It will be interesting to see what the next step is for Harris if the poll numbers do not improve leading up to the Iowa caucus.
The Iowa caucus will take place on February 3.