Former mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Bernie Sanders were in a tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination in the US state of Iowa on Thursday, with nearly all results having trickled in.
The latest results from 97 per cent of the state's precincts showed Buttigieg with 26.2 per cent of state delegates, in a near tie with Sanders' 26.1 per cent.
The much-touted Iowa caucuses have been overshadowed by a significant delay in releasing the results after a new app used to tally votes failed miserably.
Iowa has a small population but an outsized significance historically in building momentum for the winner going into future contests.
Left-leaning Senator Elizabeth Warren was in third place with 18.2 per cent. Former vice president Joe Biden, long considered the favourite to win the nomination, trailed behind at 15.8 per cent.
Partial results released in batches since Monday's caucuses had previously shown Buttigieg with a clearer lead.
Buttigieg, who represents the moderate wing of the Democratic party, has already been celebrating his success in Iowa as he campaigns in New Hampshire ahead of its primary next week.
The 38-year-old has risen from relative obscurity as a small-city mayor to become the first openly gay candidate to seriously contend for a major party's presidential nomination.
Sanders, a 78-year-old social democrat, received a major boost on Thursday as his campaign announced it had raised 25 million dollars in January, more than any candidate received in any full quarter in 2019, according to the New York Times newspaper.
The winner of the Democrats' months-long, nationwide primary races will face off against President Trump in the general election in November.
