Buttigieg campaign says 2000 people attended Iowa rally

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg drew a crowd of 2,000 people to his Sunday rally in Iowa, his campaign said. 

The supporters filled an event space in Coralville, campaign spokesperson Sean Savett told The Hill, citing the Coralville Fire Department.

2,000+ here in Coralville on a Sunday afternoon to see @PeteButtigieg #iacaucus pic.twitter.com/IsHlzvUfCb

— Sean Manning (@SeanManning_) December 8, 2019

Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., called the event one of the campaign’s “largest rallies yet” in a fundraising email to supporters Sunday. 

“Everywhere we go, I see the momentum building for this campaign. Because everywhere I go, there are Americans looking for a new approach to unifying our country with hope and urgency,” he wrote. 

Coralville Fire Department assistant chief Nic Pruter confirmed 2,008 people, including staff, press and volunteers, were at the event.

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) campaign estimated 2,000 people attended the senator’s campaign rally with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in the same venue, the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, last month. 

In addition to the crowd at the Coralville rally, Savett said Buttigieg had “huge Iowa crowds” over the weekend during other stops on the trail. 

Savett touted Buttigieg’s crowd sizes at two Saturday town halls, including 1,050 people in Mount Vernon and 1,000 people in Davenport. 

A smaller crowd of 400 in Washington, Iowa at a Sunday morning town hall broke local records, Savett said. The former local mayor said it was the largest crowd she’d seen in her lifetime, Blake Reinken, a regional organizing director for the Buttigieg campaign tweeted. 

The large crowds come as Buttigieg has shot ahead of the field in Iowa polls. 

A RealClearPolitics average of Iowa polls has Buttigieg at 24 percent support, giving him a 5.7 point lead over Sanders. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) trails in third at 17.7 percent, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden at 16.3 percent, according to the average of polls.