Sanders says he does not consider himself the front-runner in the Democratic primary

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Thursday that he does not consider himself to be the front-runner yet in the Democratic primary race. 

“No,” Sanders responded to CNN’s Anderson Cooper at a town hall. “I think we have an excellent chance here in New Hampshire.”

“We are up against some stiff competition here in the Democratic primary,” he added. 

The progressive senator said it was time to move on from the Iowa caucuses despite the delay in results, saying it was better to focus on the upcoming primary in the Granite State. 

“We’ve got enough of Iowa,” he said. 

Sanders declared victory in Iowa on Thursday amid the fallout and confusion over the results of Monday’s caucuses. 

“Even though the vote tabulations have been extremely slow, we are now at a point with some 97 percent of the precincts reporting where our campaign is winning the popular initial vote by some 6,000 votes,” Sanders said at a press conference. 

“And when 6,000 more people come out for you in an election than your nearest opponent, we here in northern New England call that a victory,” he continued. 

The comments came as the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez called for a recanvass of votes in Iowa due to worries about inconsistencies in the tally.

Technical difficulties and inconsistencies delayed the results of the caucuses, putting the final voter into chaos. 

Sanders criticized the Iowa Democratic Party’s handling of the situation, saying they “screwed up.”

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg leads Sanders by a tenth of a percentage point among Iowa State Delegate Equivalents with 97 percent of precincts now reporting.