Bill de Blasio Has Nothing But Praise for How Iowa Dems Ran Caucuses

"The Iowa Democratic Party is legendary for running a very, highly developed, complicated process of the caucuses."

Mayor Bill de Blasio with ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Photo: for Getty Images).
Mayor Bill de Blasio with ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Photo: for Getty Images).

Where others saw overflow crowds exiled to parking lots and basements, insufficient ballots and voter registration papers and precincts where a coin flip decided the winner, Mayor Bill de Blasio saw a job well done.

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Fresh off door-knocking duty for ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Hawkeye State, Mr. de Blasio praised his party’s establishment in Iowa and how it ran the famously complex caucuses. Monday’s kick-off voting event of the 2016 presidential season saw more than 170,000 people turn out to support either Ms. Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley—the second highest total in history, following only 2008.

“The Iowa Democratic Party is legendary for running a very, highly developed, complicated process of the caucuses,” Mr. de Blasio told reporters at an unrelated event in Manhattan this morning. “They’ve done it for decades. I have faith that they handled their work very, very well.”

Mr. de Blasio wouldn’t speak to Ms. Clinton’s hairsbreadth 49.8 to 49.6 percent victory over Mr. Sanders, and instead simply praised the process.

“I think it was a great, well-fought campaign, and in the end, she won the day,” he said.

Bill de Blasio Has Nothing But Praise for How Iowa Dems Ran Caucuses