But we shouldn’t pretend the results are a total mystery. From data reported by campaigns and media outlets, three things are pretty clear:
1) Joe Biden bombed, finishing a distant fourth
2) Bernie Sanders was at or near the top of the field
3) Pete Buttgieg outperformed the polls to finish at or near the top
The large campaigns have precinct captains in nearly every precinct who call in results. The Sanders campaign released the all the results they had, coming from about 40% of precincts, and it showed–by all three counts–Sanders winning with nearly 30%, Buttigieg in second, Warren in third, and Biden way back in fourth. The Warren campaign said its numbers showed Biden also in a distant fourth. The Biden campaign hasn’t reported any results.
Nearly every reporter who reported results last night showed Biden underperforming. (In the two precincts I covered, Biden wasn’t viable, and actually had fewer supporters than Andrew Yang.)
