Iowa: Mayor Pete Buttigieg Jumps To Double-Digit Standing In Democratic Poll

Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Openly gay presidential hopeful Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, has jumped to a double-digit (11%) third-place ranking in a new Iowa poll.

Via The Hill:

Eleven percent of likely Democratic Iowa caucus goers surveyed by Emerson Polling said they would pick Buttigieg to be their 2020 presidential nominee.

Overall, Buttigieg placed third behind Former Vice President Joe Biden, at 25 percent, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), at 24 percent.

The only other candidate to receive double-digit support was Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who was the choice for 10 percent of respondents.

"The biggest surprise in this poll is Mayor Pete, 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'?" Spencer Kimball, director of the Emerson Poll, said.

Buttigieg, who has formed an exploratory committee but has not officially declared, was polling at 0 percent in Emerson's January survey of Iowa, which shows his recognition and support have grown significantly in the last few months.

Here's the full ranking from the Emerson Poll: