Iowa caucus results: Pete Buttigieg pulls ahead as state Democrats release partial count – live

Some Iowans expressed frustration on Tuesday that the state Democratic party had bungled its moment in the national spotlight after the state Democratic party delayed releasing the results of the caucuses because of a technical glitch.

“They’re not complete, but results are in from a majority of precincts, and they show our campaign in first place,” said Pete Buttigieg, grinning widely as he addressed supporters in New Hampshire. “This is what we have been working more than a year to convince our fellow Americans: that a new and better vision can bring about a new and better day.

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Pete Buttigieg holds early lead in Iowa caucuses after chaos over results

Iowa Democratic party announces partial results with former South Bend mayor trailed closely by Bernie Sanders

Pete Buttigieg, the previously little-known former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, held a narrow lead in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday night, according to a partial release of a majority of the results by the state Democratic party a day after an embarrassing organizational breakdown that marred the biggest night of the election year so far.

With 71% of the precincts reporting from all of Iowa’s 99 counties, Buttigieg held 26.8% of the state’s delegate count, trailed closely by the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders with 25.2%, the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren with 18.4% and the former vice-president Joe Biden falling well behind with 15.4%. Sanders, meanwhile, had so far earned the largest share of total votes cast.

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Iowa caucuses: results in chaos as Democratic party blames delays on ‘inconsistencies’ – as it happened

  • Party says they are using photos and paper trail to validate results
  • Biden’s campaign sends letter to party demanding ‘full explanation’
  • Iowa caucuses results – live updates
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That’s it from me after a very anti-climatic night in Des Moines. The Democratic presidential candidates and the media circus accompanying them are leaving Iowa with no sense of who won the first voting state in the nominating contest.

Here’s where things stand:

One reporter described Iowa Democratic party chairman Troy Price’s voice on the press call as “deflated”, which is understandable considering the organization saw its worst nightmare unfold before its eyes tonight.

"Thank you and we will be in touch soon," Price said.

An understatement to say he sounded deflated. Since his election in 2017, it's been his sole mission to try to make a fairer, more transparent Iowa caucus that would also run seamlessly. Tonight was IDP's worst nightmare.

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Iowa caucuses off to disastrous start as results delayed due to ‘inconsistencies’

Hours after voting began there were no results as the state’s Democratic party said it was ‘simply a reporting issue’

The Democratic presidential primary contest got off to a disastrous start on Monday after results from the highly anticipated Iowa Democratic caucuses were dramatically delayed due to “inconsistencies” in the reporting of the data.

The state’s Democratic party said it was performing “quality control” on the numbers “out of an abundance of caution” following reports of problems with a phone app used to relay vote tallies.

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‘You basically are nothing’: the Americans shut out of the Iowa caucuses

Hundreds of thousands of Iowans are barred from the Iowa caucus because of physical and legal barriers

As Democratic candidates began a last minute blitz across Iowa on Friday evening, nearly a dozen men gathered in a cavernous YMCA meeting room in downtown Des Moines to have a conversation that felt a universe removed from the 2020 race.

They were part of one of the largest groups shut out of Monday’s caucus: people with felony convictions. Iowans are barred from voting for life once they commit a felony, and people can’t vote even if they committed a crime decades ago. The state’s policy, one of the strictest in the country, means more than 42,000 Iowans out of prison won’t have a say in choosing a presidential candidate. Almost 10% of the black voting age population can’t vote because of a felony conviction.

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How the Democrats will decide who fights Trump – video

More than a dozen candidates are running to take on Donald Trump in the presidential election this year. But first they must win the Democratic nomination. Lauren Gambino explains the process

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Trump impeachment: White House claims John Bolton book contains top secret information – live

  • White House sends letter saying book cannot be published
  • Today is first of two days of question-and-answer sessions at trial
  • Help us cover the critical issues of 2020. Consider making a contribution

The impeachment managers have repeatedly used their answers to make an argument for calling witnesses, specifically John Bolton.

We are 17 questions in, with the witness issue emerging frequently.
Dems using some questions to argue that Bolton could answer outstanding issues.
WH team saying that if Bolton were called, many other witnesses would be, too, and proceedings would drag on for months.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “The Senate in its history has had 15 different impeachment trials. In every single trial there were witnesses. Every single trial. Why should this president be treated differently...” https://t.co/up2CQNLRW8 pic.twitter.com/8CoK6RvYZg

Democratic senators were visibly stunned when Alan Dershowitz made his argument that Trump was acting in the public interest by pushing for investigations of Democrats because the president considers his reelection to be in the public interest.

Dems' reaction to Dershowitz's case just now would've been great TV:

- When Dersh suggested reelection concerns fit in national interest, Bernie turned to Schatz, who mouthed either "WHA" or "WOW"

- Gillibrand and Merkley made frustrated hand motions

- Slow grin from Schumer

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Democratic debate: rivals square off in final debate before Iowa caucuses – live

  • Six candidates to debate at Drake University in Des Moines
  • Sanders, Warren, Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Steyer feature
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Hours before the debate on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would vote to send its impeachment charges against Donald Trump to the Senate the following day.

Even though six Democratic presidential candidates failed to meet the polling requirement for tonight’s debate, one candidate who did manage to cross that threshold will not be onstage tonight: Michael Bloomberg.

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The final sprint: will any of the Democratic candidates excite voters?

Biden is too gaffe-prone; Sanders and Warren are too far left; Buttigieg, too young. But which one is capable of beating Trump?

Democrats overwhelmingly agree that their top priority in 2020 is to remove Donald Trump from office. But which of the many Democrats running for president is best suited to the task remains a source of deep anxiety and division less than five weeks before the Iowa caucuses.

After more than a year of campaigning, the Democratic presidential primary enters the final sprint before voting begins on 3 February in Iowa in a familiar but fluid state: Joe Biden in the lead, trailed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren with Pete Buttigieg also showing signs of strength in the early states.

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2019: the photographs that defined America’s year – in pictures

A look back at some of the biggest moments of the past year.

Warning: Some of the following images are graphic in nature and might be disturbing to some viewers.

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Bernie Sanders calls out Buttigieg’s billionaire fundraising: ‘exactly the problem with politics’

Exclusive: the Vermont senator speaks to the Guardian about his rivals’ support from billionaires, and his plan to beat Trump

Bernie Sanders on Friday doubled down on criticism of fellow Democratic presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden over the support they’ve received from billionaire donors, arguing his 2020 rivals’ fundraising was “exactly the problem with American politics”.

Related: Billionaire candidates spent $15m on TV ads in California. What if they'd spent it on housing?

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Buttigieg returns donations from lawyers who represented Brett Kavanaugh

Following Guardian queries, 2020 hopeful says Kavanaugh should never have been placed on supreme court

Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 campaign is returning thousands of dollars in donations from two top Washington lawyers who represented Brett Kavanaugh in his controversial confirmation hearing, saying it will not accept funds from people who helped secure the justice’s seat on the supreme court.

Buttigieg’s campaign received $7,200 from Alexandra Walsh – $3,150 of which had already been returned because it exceeded limits – and attended a fundraiser in July that was co-hosted by the Washington lawyer. Buttigieg also received $2,800 from Beth Wilkinson, Walsh’s law partner, who also represented Kavanaugh.

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Democratic debate takeaways: Buttigieg unscathed as candidates focus on impeachment

A surging Pete Buttigieg avoided major criticism while Tulsi Gabbard reinforced her outsider status in Atlanta debate

Some of the candidates used the explosive congressional testimony from the ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, earlier in the day as a launchpad to renew calls for Donald Trump’s impeachment.

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Is Pete Buttigieg’s version of ‘hope and change’ enough to take on Trump? | Geoffrey Kabaservice

The 37-year-old mayor from Indiana has his vulnerabilities, but has become a contender for the presidency in just a few months

On a November evening a dozen years ago, Barack Obama – who at the time was the 46-year-old junior senator from Illinois – appeared at the annual fundraising dinner-rally of the Iowa Democratic party, at which all of the 2008 Democratic presidential contestants were given about 10 minutes to speak. Obama came in as underdog to the frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, but delivered such a barn-burning stemwinder of a speech that he left as the favorite. A little more than three months later, he won the Iowa caucuses – the first major contest on the US presidential campaign calendar – and the rest is history.

None of the Democratic presidential hopefuls who spoke at last week’s Iowa Democratic party Liberty and Justice Celebration pulled off an Obama-level breakout performance. But the one who came closest was Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Buttigieg hewed closely to the Obama playbook in making a case for his candidacy, and his Iowa speech seems likely to boost him in the polls at just the moment when the other leading candidates are showing some worrisome weaknesses.

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‘The stakes are enormous’: is Hillary Clinton set for a White House run?

The candidate who lost to Trump is making all the right moves as some fear a primary gone too far left. It’s a tantalising notion, but most observers counsel caution – and a dose of realism

A high-profile book tour. Countless TV interviews. Political combat with a Democratic primary candidate and Donald Trump. A year before the US presidential election, it looks like a campaign and it sounds like a campaign but it isn’t a campaign. At least, not as far anyone knows.

Related: Pete Buttigieg: race is between me and Warren – as new poll puts him fourth

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Warren under attack as Democrats spar in largest primary debate in US history

Twelve Democrats targeted Warren over healthcare, taxes and big tech in first debate since Trump impeachment inquiry

Elizabeth Warren came under sustained attack from her Democratic rivals during Tuesday night’s presidential debate, a reflection of the threat her ascendant candidacy poses to the crowded field of hopefuls competing to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 US election.

Twelve Democratic candidates took to the stage in Westerville, Ohio, for the largest presidential primary debate in modern US history, and the first since the launch of an impeachment inquiry into the president’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his leading rival, Joe Biden.

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Elizabeth Warren overtakes Joe Biden in new Iowa poll

Elizabeth Warren leads Joe Biden in Iowa for the first time, according to a new poll in the early voting state.

Related: How Trump could lose the popular vote again – and hold the White House

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How did each candidate in the Democratic debate do?

Klobuchar, Booker, Buttigieg, Sanders, Biden, Warren, Harris, Yang, O’Rourke and Castro – all 10 hopefuls rated

The candidates gathered in Houston, Texas, for the latest Democratic debate represented the top tier of the large field campaigning for the party’s 2020 nomination. But how did each of them fare during a night of policy cut and thrust, some mutual admiration and also some caustic attacks – on each other and on Donald Trump.

Related: Biden clashes with Warren and Sanders in lively Democratic debate

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Democratic debate: Warren and Sanders clash with Biden over healthcare – live

The 10 candidates on stage in Houston offered competing visions based on Obamacare and Medicare for All

Joe Biden is taking a question on gun control and once again arguing he has the best (and certainly the longest) record on the issue. “I’m the only up here who’s ever beat the NRA,” the former vice president and senator said.

Biden then similarly applauded Beto O’Rourke for his efforts to help his hometown of El Paso heal from the mass shooting that killed 22. Biden originally referred to the former congressman as “Beto.” He then apologized and O’Rourke interjected, “Beto is good.”

In the midst of a discussion on race and criminal justice, Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot, has made this important point:

You know what else is racist? Preventing people from voting. There have been 29 presidential debates in 2020 & 2016 and no questions about voting rights

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Warren and Sanders give rivals Bonnie and Clyde treatment during fiery debate

Analysis: pair were dominant at event showcasing Democratic party’s split personality, pitting progressives against moderates

Bonnie and Clyde. Mulder and Scully. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. On Tuesday night it was Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders who, defying predictions that they would turn on each other, instead formed a leftwing tag team against the forces of moderation at the latest Democratic primary debate on Tuesday.

Warren and Sanders stood centre stage in the ornate Fox Theatre in Detroit, had the most speaking time – more than 35 minutes between them – produced the best lines of the night (with the possible exception of self-help guru and long-shot candidate Marianne Williamson) and had all the appearance of incumbents fending off pesky challengers. Barack Obama’s party this isn’t.

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