Buttigieg edged Biden as candidate most likely to beat Trump, Iowa entrance polls show

Pete Buttigieg.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Ever since he got into the Democratic presidential race, former Vice President Joe Biden's calling card has been his purported ability to defeat President Trump in the general election. He's even said he's not sure he would've run if there was a different Republican incumbent.

Normally, Biden does poll strongly when it comes to electability, but in the entrance polls before Monday night's Iowa caucus, he didn't stand out in that category. Defeating Trump was indeed a priority for a majority of voters, with 61 percent of Democratic caucus-goers saying they prefer a candidate who can win compared to 37 percent who were focused on the issues. Biden didn't do poorly among voters focused on the general election, but former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg actually edged the former vice president, 24 percent to 23 percent, in that category.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.