Pete Buttigieg took a narrow lead in the first batch of long-delayed results from the chaotic Iowa Democratic Party caucuses on Tuesday, and former Vice President Joe Biden trailed badly in fourth place with about 62 percent of precincts reporting.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders was a close second place and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren placed third in the first results, released nearly 21 hours after Iowans poured into more than 1,600 public locations to begin the five-month process of picking a challenger to Republican President Donald Trump.
In Tuesday's first results of state delegate equivalents, the data traditionally reported to determine the winner, Buttigieg had 26.9 percent, Sanders had 25.1 percent, Warren 18.3 percent and Biden 15.6 percent. Senator Amy Klobuchar was fifth at 12.6 percent.
If elected, Buttigieg, 38, would be the first openly gay U.S. president. A military veteran, he served in Afghanistan before becoming mayor of South Bend, a city of 102,000 people.
"It's extraordinary," he told CNN when asked about what this moment means.
"It also, I hope, means something to a lot of people wondering if they fit in, people who are different, people who don't know if they belong in their community or in their family. This is a proof that you can believe in yourself and in your country."
Sanders, 78, was ahead in the popular vote, which is not used to determine the delegates who will cast ballots at the Democratic National Convention in July. An independent, Sanders calls himself a democratic socialist.
It was a clumsy start to voting. Officials blamed inconsistencies related to a new mobile app used for vote counting for the unusual delay in Iowa, the state that traditionally launches a U.S. presidential election campaign that culminates this year on November 3.
The uncertainty enraged Democrats worried it would only strengthen Trump's bid for re-election and prompted some Democratic candidates' campaigns to question whether the results would be legitimate.
"As leader of the party I apologize deeply for this," Iowa State Party Chairman Troy Price told reporters. "We've been working day and night to make sure these results are accurate."
(With input from Reuters)