Little-Known Democrat Pete Buttigieg Surging in Latest 2020 Polling
A new poll of potential Democratic presidential candidates has moved South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg into a tie with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as the largely unknown candidate has vaulted ahead of other nationally known figures.
According to the most recent Quinnipiac University poll, Buttigieg scored 4 percent support. Although that’s a long way behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who led the poll at 29 percent, it marks the first time the 37-year-old has separated himself from the gaggle of candidates scoring at or below 1 percent support. The surge was noted by Axios as “the biggest polling story of the week.”
The poll also shows that not only is Buttigieg tied with Warren, he is ahead of Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who both polled at 2 percent.
In between came Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, at 19 percent, followed by former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke at 12 percent and California Sen. Kamala Harris at 12 percent.
Other polls show Buttigieg in an even better light. Emerson Polling showed him at 11 percent support. Biden led that poll as well at 25 percent, followed by Sanders at 24 percent. Harris was fourth at 10 percent. No one else reached double digits.
Here’s an Iowa poll from @EmersonCollege that needless to say is… just a bit different. Biden 25%, Sanders 24%… Buttigieg 11% (yes that’s what they found), Harris 10%, Warren 9%, Booker 6%, O’Rourke 5%… https://t.co/ufwsL1kaUs pic.twitter.com/FTiyZ0Yqdb
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) March 24, 2019
Buttigieg has also emerged as a leader among candidates in terms of searches for his name on Google. He drew strong support recently at a New York City fundraiser, according to The New York Times.
“Mayor Pete is fresh, he’s untainted,” said Michael Zorek, 58, of New York City. “He has an entirely different story than any other politician in our lifetime.”
Buttigieg has “East Coast values with a Midwestern knowledge,” said Katie Held, 35, also of New York City.
Buttigieg, who is gay and married, is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.
“To have an openly gay mayor to now be considered the hottest ticket in town running for president is a very, very exciting thing,” said New York City Council speaker Corey Johnson, who is gay.
Midwestern mayor @PeteButtigieg wows progressive Dems in San Francisco https://t.co/hJPCqCejMp
— Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) March 29, 2019
Buttigieg dwelt upon his differences Friday while speaking to a crowd in San Francisco, Newsweek reported.
“What you want to do, is you want to nominate a really kind of forward-thinking, inclusive, new generation, young, good-looking mayor,” he joked.
He later noted he was “definitely the only left-handed, gay, Maltese American Episcopalian in the race.”
He said that his differences make him what the nation needs.
“I would argue, cheeky as it sounds as the youngest guy in the conversation, that my experiences are unusually relevant to what the moment is calling for,” he said.
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