Pete Buttigieg gets a boost in Iowa after several months of stagnating polls

pete buttigieg
pete buttigieg

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South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the third-most popular 2020 candidate among Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa, according to a Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll published Monday.

Buttigieg won the support of 13% of the poll's respondents, while 18% support former Vice President Joe Biden and 17% went for Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

The mayor's campaign has dramatically ramped up its investments in Iowa over the last six weeks, growing the number of campaign offices in the state from just one at the beginning of September to 22 by mid-October.

Warren has the second-most campaign offices in Iowa at 29. Biden comes in third with 17 offices in the state. 

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The Buttigieg campaign has also boosted its spending on TV and digital ads in the state.

This also follows Buttigieg's aggressive performance during last week's Democratic debate, at one point singling out Warren for her support for Medicare for All. Buttigieg argued that the senator had not been transparent about how her single-payer healthcare plan would require raising taxes on middle class Americans.

"Your signature is to have a plan for everything, except this," Buttigieg said to Warren. "No plan has been laid out to explain how a multi-trillion dollar hole in this plan that Senator Warren is putting forward is supposed to get filled in."

Buttigieg experienced a surge in popularity early last spring. Democratic voters satisfied with Buttigieg as president jumped from 23% in early February to 62% in mid-April, according to Insider's polling.

But over the last several months, Buttigieg's popularity has declined and flatlined.

The percentage of Democratic voters aware of the mayor who would be satisfied with Buttigieg as president has dropped from a high of 62% in April to 49% in October, according to recent Insider polling.

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