2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses live results

Last Updated: Feb 27, 2020 at 7:41 p.m. EST

The Iowa Democratic Party has released 100 percent of results from the caucuses. State delegate equivalent figures show how support from caucus-goers after realignment roughly translates into the number of delegates each candidate will get at the state convention. That figure then translates into how many of the 41 pledged national delegates each candidate will get. In previous years, the Iowa Democratic Party reported only state delegate equivalent figures.

The state Democratic Party created a few different rules for 2020’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, allowing satellite caucuses and decreasing some of the caucus-goers’ chances to candidate-switch. At caucus sites, Iowa Democrats stood in groups to show support for candidates; any candidate without 15 percent support at a site was considered not viable. Their supporters could leave; move to a viable candidate; or try to create a group that hit that level. But they got just one chance to realign this year.

The winners of the past three Democratic caucuses in Iowa have gone on to become the party’s nominee: John Kerry in 2004, Barack Obama in 2008 and Hillary Clinton in 2016. Voting in this year’s contest resumes Feb. 11, when New Hampshire holds its primary.

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Davenport

Waterloo

Council Bluffs

Cedar Rapids

Des Moines

LEAD/WON

Sanders

Biden

Warren

Buttigieg

Klobuchar

Tie

CandidateVotesSDEsSDEs Pct.Del.
Pete ButtigiegButtigieg		43,209562.9526.2%14
Bernie SandersSanders		45,652562.0226.112
Elizabeth WarrenWarren		34,909388.4418.18
Joe BidenBiden		23,605340.3215.86
Amy KlobucharKlobuchar		21,100263.8712.31
Andrew YangYang		1,75821.861.00
Tom SteyerSteyer		4136.620.30
Michael BloombergBloomberg		160.210.00
Tulsi GabbardGabbard		160.110.00
Michael BennetBennet		40.000.00
Deval PatrickPatrick		00.000.00
OtherOther		1980.690.00
UncommittedUncommitted		1,4203.730.20
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Total SDEs from 100% of precincts2150.82

Where candidates did well

Many counties in Iowa are sparsely populated. Here are the parts of the state where the main candidates racked up their vote totals.

Sanders

Davenport

Waterloo

Council Bluffs

Cedar Rapids

Des Moines

Biden

Davenport

Waterloo

Council Bluffs

Cedar Rapids

Des Moines

Warren

Davenport

Waterloo

Council Bluffs

Cedar Rapids

Des Moines

Buttigieg

Davenport

Waterloo

Council Bluffs

Cedar Rapids

Des Moines

Klobuchar

Davenport

Waterloo

Council Bluffs

Cedar Rapids

Des Moines

First and second alignments

Iowa’s Democratic caucuses have two rounds: First, caucus-goers stand in groups to show their support for a candidate. Any candidate who does not hit the specified support threshold — usually 15 percent — in that caucus site is considered not viable; so in the second round, caucus-goers can realign or move to a group that is viable, try to create a new viable group or leave. The Iowa Democratic Party has released results from that first round and the second one, after caucus-goers moved.

VotesPercent
Candidate1st alignment2nd1st alignment2ndShift
Bernie Sanders43,58145,65224.7%26.5%+1.8
Pete Buttigieg37,57243,20921.325.1+3.8
Elizabeth Warren32,58934,90918.520.3+1.8
Joe Biden26,29123,60514.913.7-1.2
Amy Klobuchar22,45421,10012.712.2-0.5
Andrew Yang8,9141,7585.11.0-4.1
Tom Steyer3,0614131.70.2-1.5
Tulsi Gabbard341160.20.0-0.2
Michael Bloomberg212160.10.0-0.1
Michael Bennet16440.10.0-0.1
Deval Patrick900.00.00.0
Other1551980.10.10.0
Uncommitted1,0091,4200.60.8+0.2
Total176,352172,300

County-level results

Campaigns have been contesting all regions of Iowa, building organizations in many of its 99 counties. Polk County, home to Des Moines, is Iowa’s biggest county, and it’s wealthier and more diverse than the rest of the state, and the counties in its suburbs and exurbs (Story, Jasper, Warren, Madison, Dallas, Guthrie and Greene) have been growing rapidly. Other key areas include the Davenport region along the Mississippi River in the east; the college towns and midsize cities around Waterloo and Cedar Rapids; and southeast Iowa around Ottumwa.

Key countiesSandersBidenWarrenButtigiegKlobucharBennetBloombergGabbardPatrickSteyerYangOtherUncommitted
Black Hawk3,1711,7571,7572,3039900000818100
Dubuque1,6271,7071,0932,107640000002700
Johnson5,2245265,3463,4021,70100000000
Linn5,3622,9454,0004,6151,934000004400
Muscatine867417383617183000001700
Polk10,8005,5688,17010,3254,141000028282884
Pottawattamie1,2726609001,20052800002421600
Scott3,3891,9012,0673,3481,6530000083410
Story2,4482902,0751,4941,702000042208042
Wapello5313962795580000092700
Woodbury1,7421,2117861,0622340000064021
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Entrance poll results

See the strengths and weaknesses of each Democratic candidate according to a statewide survey of Iowans as they entered Monday's caucuses. Entrance poll results reflect caucus-goers’ initial preferences for candidates, and do not take into account which candidates voters supported after realignment during caucuses or the delegate count.

Sex

Men
42% OF VOTERS

Sanders

25

Biden

18

Warren

15

Buttigieg

18

7

17

Women
58%

20

18

18

22

11

11

Age

17-29
21% OF VOTERS

Sanders

48

3

Warren

12

Buttigieg

17

2

18

30-44
21%

35

5

23

17

4

16

45-64
28%

13

21

19

24

11

12

65+
30%

5

34

13

22

16

10

When did you decide?

In the last few days
33% OF VOTERS

Sanders

14

Biden

21

Warren

17

Buttigieg

19

Klobuchar

12

17

Before then
65%

27

17

17

22

8

9

Education

College graduate
51% OF VOTERS

Sanders

17

Biden

17

Warren

20

Buttigieg

22

Klobuchar

11

13

No college degree
49%

28

20

13

19

7

13

Ideology

Very liberal
25% OF VOTERS

Sanders

44

5

Warren

28

9

5

9

Somewhat liberal
42%

18

17

16

26

8

15

Moderate/ Conservative
33%

11

29

9

22

13

16

Most important issue in vote

Health care
41% OF VOTERS

Sanders

24

Biden

16

Warren

18

Buttigieg

23

Klobuchar

10

9

Climate change
21%

26

10

12

22

11

19

Foreign policy
14%

6

45

5

22

12

10

Income inequality
17%

30

11

30

11

1

17

Rather nominate a candidate who...

Agrees with you on major issues
36% OF VOTERS

Sanders

36

6

Warren

18

Buttigieg

18

5

17

Can beat Donald Trump
62%

14

26

16

21

11

12

How do you feel about replacing all private health insurance with a single government plan for everyone?

Support
60% OF VOTERS

Sanders

34

Biden

10

Warren

23

Buttigieg

15

6

12

Oppose
36%

5

30

6

30

13

16

First-time caucus-goer

Attended previous caucus
65% OF VOTERS

Sanders

19

Biden

23

Warren

17

Buttigieg

19

Klobuchar

11

11

First-time caucus-goer
35%

29

9

15

22

6

19

By Jason Bernert, Lenny Bronner, Madison Dong, Simon Glenn-Gregg, Jason Holt, Isabelle Lavandero, Erik Reyna, Ashlyn Still and Susan Tyler

Additional contributions from Emily Guskin and Scott Clement

Sources: Edison Research, Urban/rural classifications from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Entrance poll: These are final results from a survey of voters as they entered randomly selected caucus sites in Iowa on Feb. 3. The poll was conducted by Edison Media Research for the National Election Pool, The Washington Post and other media organizations. Results for typical characteristics have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.

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