Feb. 13 (UPI) — The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party resigned from his position Wednesday in the wake of problems surrounding the state’s caucuses.
Chairman Troy Price said that he will officially resign once a replacement is elected in response to errors in the results of the Feb. 3 caucuses related to an app the party implemented to tally votes.
“While it is my desire to stay in this role and see this process through to completion, I do believe it is time for the Iowa Democratic Party to begin looking forward and my presence in my current role makes that more difficult,” Price said.
Price also announced state Democrats would commission an independent investigation of the caucus process.
“The challenges reporting data and delays of publicizing the results were categorically unacceptable,” he said. “Iowa Democrats demand better of us. Quite frankly, we demand better of ourselves.”
Price worked for the Iowa campaigns of former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and served as executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party before being elected to the chair in 2017 and re-elected in 2018.
Preliminary results from the caucuses showed former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg with a slight lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., granting 14 national delegates to Buttigieg and 12 to Sanders after applying revisions from 55 precinct reports.
Both candidates requested a recanvass of 143 precincts on Monday.
