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| - The Democratic campaign to choose a candidate to face Donald Trump in November's presidential election was in turmoil on Tuesday after results from the traditional first contest were delayed by an embarrassing technical meltdown. Organizers of the Iowa caucuses said partial results would be released late afternoon, as Trump gleefully pounced on the hold-up, describing the Democrats' failure to deliver timely results as an "unmitigated disaster." "Nothing works, just like they ran the country," tweeted Trump, who is to make his annual "State of the Union" speech to a joint session of Congress later Tuesday under the cloud of impeachment by the House of Representatives. Although the Iowa Democratic Party had not yet released any official results from Monday's caucuses, Pete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders claimed victory. While initial indications were that he may have fared poorly, former vice president Joe Biden, long seen as the frontrunner in the race, said "we think we're going to come out of there really doing well." Joe Rospars, chief strategist for Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, chided the other candidates, tweeting that "any campaign saying they won or putting out incomplete numbers is contributing to the chaos." The Iowa Democratic Party blamed the delay on an app that it said was reporting only partial data and "inconsistencies." Iowa party chairman Troy Price told the campaigns in a conference call that the majority of results would be released at 4:00 pm (2200 GMT) -- 21 hours after the caucuses began. "We will continue to release results as we are able to," party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said. The results are usually known within hours of the conclusion of the caucuses, which do not involve a traditional ballot but see voters attending public gatherings and voicing support for the candidate of their choice. "Our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld," the Iowa Democratic Party said in a statement that sought to dispel any concerns of hacking. It voiced confidence there had been no cyber espionage. Iowa kicks off the process of selecting presidential nominees every four years, but the fiasco surrounding the results is likely to increase calls for the small, Midwestern farm state to lose the honor. "The top finishers, probably Sanders and Buttigieg, could have used their showings to launch into New Hampshire," the next contest, said Larry Sabato, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia. "Instead, the story is the shocking incompetence of the Iowa Democratic Party." He called for an end to the "strange system in a 91 percent white state" in favor of giving other states a chance to kick off the process. Virginia Senator Mark Warner expressed alarm over the Iowa debacle. "This chaos has created an environment where misinformation is now running rampant online, further undermining confidence in the democratic process," Warner said. Buttigieg, who is battling Biden for the moderate wing of the party, said that, based on an internal tally, it was a "clear victory for this campaign." "We were able to demonstrate both the winning message and the winning organization," Buttigieg told MSNBC. Sanders said he believed he had done "very, very well." "Today marks the beginning of the end for Donald Trump," said the 78-year-old self-described democratic socialist. Another Democratic candidate, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, expressed optimism about her performance and called for patience with the vote counters. "I'm sure they're working hard," Klobuchar said. With Iowa still mired in confusion, the Democratic candidates were already turning their sights on New Hampshire, which holds the next nominating contest on February 11. According to a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV/Suffolk University poll released Monday, Sanders is leading in the Granite State with 24 percent, followed by Biden on 18 percent, Warren with 13 percent and Buttigieg with 11 percent. Alluding to his own victory in Republican caucuses in Iowa, Trump said that "the only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is 'Trump.'" "When will the Democrats start blaming RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, instead of their own incompetence for the voting disaster that just happened in the Great State of Iowa?" Trump tweeted. According to Buttigieg's website, citing partial results, he earned the support of 24.7 percent of the 152,000 voters who took part in Monday's caucuses. Partial results released by the Sanders campaign showed him with 28.62 percent and Buttigieg with 25.71 percent, followed by Warren on 18.42 percent. If confirmed, Biden's fourth place 15.08 percent would be a disappointing showing for the candidate who has consistently claimed he is the person best positioned to take on and defeat Trump. cl/ft
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