Writing to supporters on Tuesday, Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir said with results from 50 percent of precincts, Bernie Sanders holds a comfortable lead.
With no official results from the Iowa Democratic Party, the Sanders campaign took the highly unorthodox step of sharing that its own internal numbers show Bernie Sanders in front.
The campaign’s figures put Pete Buttigieg is in second, followed by Elizabeth Warren, then Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar.
“Let me reiterate that these are unofficial results, but we wanted to share them to let you know we feel very good about where we are at right now as we head to New Hampshire,” Shakir wrote in the email.
“It is simply unacceptable that the Iowa Democratic Party cannot release votes in a timely way, so we will continue to update you with our numbers as we await a final, official result.”
After expressing immense frustration and disappointment in the Iowa Democratic Party’s explanation of reporting issues early Tuesday morning, Sanders’ senior adviser Jeff Weaver is now “confident” that eventually IDP will deliver results “and they’re going to be the correct results.”
