At a press conference in Manchester, New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders declared victory in Iowa, saying he is well-positioned to win the Democratic nomination.
Sanders argued that while some results are still to be reported, he is the clear winner in Iowa, leading on the first and final alignment vote totals. The Vermont Senator also pointed out that state delegate equivalents have “greatly diminished importance, and they should.”
In response to calls from Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez for a re-canvass, Sanders said, “we won an 8-person election by some 6,000 votes. That is not going to change.”
The Iowa Democratic Party have since said that they will only conduct a re-canvass at the request of a candidate, provided they have a credible explanation of the reasons for the request.
In a Facebook post released after the press conference, Sanders said he wanted to, three days late, thank the people of Iowa for the very strong victory at the caucuses on Monday night.
“Thousands of volunteers knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors in the cold and snow. And I want to thank each and every volunteer who participated in that effort, and to thank all of our grassroots campaign contributors whose financial support made that victory possible.”
“We are well-positioned to win the Democratic nomination and defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country.”