Pete Buttigieg is rising as a consensus pick for moderate Democrats, while Joe Biden is losing steam, say US observers, explaining why Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaign donors have thrown their weight behind the young Democratic dark horse.
Pete Buttigieg, a 38-year-old ex-mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and the first openly gay presidential candidate, has won the Iowa caucuses in a tight contest with Democratic heavyweight Bernie Sanders.
Out of the Blue: Who is Pete Buttigieg?
Though his victory was overshadowed by a scandal over chaotic vote tallying caused by a new app used by caucus precinct chiefs the young politician has obviously stolen the show. For many Buttigieg's Iowa win came out of the blue given that the former mayor has neither experience for the presidential bid nor a solid political record.
Pete Buttigieg, the youngest presidential candidate running, was described by The New York Times as “a relatively obscure mayor of an Indiana city of just over 100,000 people”. A graduate of Harvard and Oxford University, he is also known for serving as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer and working as a McKinsey consultant before performing duties as the 32nd mayor of South Bend between 2012 and 2020.
As Buttigieg tweeted ahead of taking the stage at a CNN Town Hall on Friday: “The first time I was here, few people knew me or how to pronounce my name. Now we've won the Iowa Caucuses and we're just 5 days away from the New Hampshire Primary”.
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