A new Iowa poll released Friday shows a competitive race among four Democrats in the pivotal early state.

The New York Times/Sienna College Poll placed Pete Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, just a few points behind Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and placed former Vice President Joe Biden in fourth.

Warren received 22 percent in the poll, while Sanders had 19. Buttigieg was at 18 percent and Biden at 17 percent.

No other candidate received more than 4 percent.

At the Liberty & Justice dinner in Des Moines on Friday, 13,500 Democrats gathered to hear from the candidates.

According to POLITICO, “Buttigieg captured the audience's imagination, articulating a case for generational change.”

“I didn't just come here to end the era of Donald Trump,” Buttigieg told the crowd. “I'm here to launch the era that must come next.”

Buttigieg, a virtual unknown before he announced his presidential campaign, has invested heavily in Iowa, which will hold the first presidential contest of the 2020 primary season in February.

(Related: Poll on Pete Buttigieg: 50 percent of Americans say they are ready for a gay president.)