A poll released Sunday shows Pete
Buttigieg surging into third place in Iowa among Democratic
presidential hopefuls.
The survey by Emerson Polling asked
likely Democratic Iowa caucusgoers who they would pick to be their
2020 presidential nominee.
Former Vice President Joe Biden placed
first, at 25 percent, while 24 percent of respondents picked Vermont
Senator Bernie Sanders.
Eleven percent of respondents picked
Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
(Related: Openly
gay Pete Buttigieg says his marriage exists “by single vote on
Supreme Court.”)
Emerson Poll Director Spencer Kimball
said that Buttigieg was the “biggest surprise in this poll.”
“Last week we saw him inching up in
our national poll, and now he's in double digits in Iowa, America is
going to be asking who is 'Mayor Pete?'” Kimball said.
The same poll had Buttigieg polling at
0 percent in January.
“If Buttigieg is able to maintain his
momentum, his candidacy appears to be pulling from the same
demographic of young voters as Sanders, and that could become a
problem for Sanders,” Kimball said.
(Related: Openly
gay Pete Buttigieg qualifies for first Democratic debate.)