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Iowa Dem. Party Officially Gives Buttigieg the Lead as Candidates Prepare for New Hampshire Vote

HeadlineFeb 10, 2020

2020 Democratic candidates are campaigning in New Hampshire as voters are set to cast the primaries’ first ballots Tuesday. The Iowa Democratic Party finally allocated delegates to the candidates Sunday, after chaos and confusion following last week’s caucuses caused major delays in reporting the results. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg received the largest delegate count — 14 — followed closely by Senator Bernie Sanders, who received 12 delegates while receiving around 6,000 more popular votes. The Sanders campaign said they will seek a partial recanvass. The Iowa Democratic party said Friday it was extending the deadline to request a recanvass to 1 p.m. Eastern today.

During a debate Friday, ABC News moderator Linsey Davis questioned Pete Buttigieg about the rise in arrests of black people during his tenure as mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

Pete Buttigieg: “Well, the reality is, on my watch, drug arrests in South Bend were lower than the national average. … The overall rate was lower than the national rate.”

Linsey Davis: “No, there was an increase. The year before you were in office, it was lower. Once you became in office, in 2012, that number went up. In 2018, the last number year that we have record for, that number was still up.”

Pete Buttigieg: “Yeah. And one of the strategies that our community adopted was to target when there were cases where there was gun violence and gang violence, which was slaughtering so many in our community.”

Meanwhile, MSNBC host Chris Matthews is being ridiculed on social media after he lashed out at Senator Sanders during a panel following the debate, evoking Cuban leader Fidel Castro and suggesting the democratic socialist candidate might support public executions.

Chris Matthews: “I remember the Cold War. I have an attitude towards Castro. I believe if Castro and the Reds had won the Cold War, there would have been executions in Central Park, and I might have been one of the ones getting executed. And certain other people would be there cheering, OK? So I have a problem with people who took the other side. I don’t know who Bernie — Bernie supports over these years. I don’t know what he means by 'socialism.'”

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