Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg touted partial results from the Iowa caucuses showing him narrowly leading the Democratic field, linking it to his historic candidacy as a gay millennial.

 

“It validates for a kid somewhere in a community wondering if he belongs or she belongs or they belong in their own family,” Buttigieg told a crowd of supporters in Laconia, N.H.

 

Buttigieg is the first openly gay candidate to mount a major presidential campaign and could become the first openly gay candidate to win the Iowa caucuses.

 

Results from 62 percent of Iowa’s precincts released by the Iowa Democratic Party showed Buttigieg leading with 28 percent of the delegates who will eventually be elected to the national convention. He was trailed closely by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with 25 percent.

The results are not final and were released a day after technical errors delayed the Iowa vote count by almost a day. The Iowa Democratic Party’s chairman, Troy Price, said earlier that he did not have a timeline for when the final results would be released.

Buttigieg had faced strong criticism from rivals after appearing to declare victory on Monday night, even as no results from the caucuses had been released.

Addressing supporters on Tuesday, Buttigieg touted the early results in a version of his speech he gave on Monday night in Des Moines.

“Just in case you haven’t been glued to your phone for the last few minutes, I want you to hear something from me,” Buttigieg said on Tuesday. 

“Results are in from a majority of precincts, and they show our campaign in first place,” he said to cheers. 

The partial results showed Buttigieg’s chief rival for the moderate mantel of the party, former Vice President Joe Biden, placing fourth, behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass).