Emilie Teresa Stigliani

The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Midnight came and went without a declared winner of the Iowa caucus.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former secretary of State Hillary Clinton are in a dead heat in the state that holds first-in-the-nation status during the primary season.

As of early Tuesday morning, Iowa's Democratic Party reported Clinton having 49.89% of the vote and Sanders receiving 49.54%. Despite 1% of the precincts still missing, Clinton's press secretary claimed victory early Tuesday morning.

Concern about voter fraud were raised late Monday night when C-Span posted video that showed a Polk County, Iowa, caucus chair and Clinton precinct captain did not conduct an actual count of the caucusgoers. Results also were slow to come in with about 5% of the precincts (roughly 90 precincts) going unreported at the time that Clinton and Sanders addressed their supporters late Monday night.

Clinton camp claims narrow victory over Sanders

On a charter flight to New Hampshire, Sanders had no answers as to what happened with the count.

“Your guess is as good as mine as to what happened,” said Sanders. “I can only hope and expect the count will be honest.”

Symone Sanders, spokeswoman for the campaign, said the delayed results were because of the Iowa Democratic Party’s failure to staff the precincts in question.

“They are asking the campaigns to sort it out,” she said to a gaggle of media waiting to be transported to a charter flight headed for New Hampshire, where the candidate would continue campaigning.

One of the journalists on board quipped, “Iowa just became Florida.”

“You said it, I did not,” Symone Sanders replied.

Win or lose the senator has a vote of confidence (though not a vote at the ballot) from Peter Diamondstone, who freely admits he and the Vermont senator have been both friends and foes, running against each other for elected office several times.

“I don’t think he treats one differently than the other,” Diamondstone said of wins and losses. “Whatever happens happens and he moves on. He’s very resilient, I think is the word.”

Diamondstone, a longtime member of Vermont’s far-left leaning Liberty Union Party to which Bernie Sanders belonged before he started winning elections, had just one admonishment for those who questioned the democratic socialist's ability to win the primary: “Do not underestimate him.”

Terry Bouricius, a longtime political ally of Bernie Sanders and former Vermont state senator, said this primary has “some overlap” with the upset Bernie Sanders pulled off in 1981 when he won mayor of Burlington, Vt.

A picture from that time shows Bouricius with the newly elected mayor who has his arm raised in victory.

Iowa turnout: Record-setting and surprising

Had Bouricius believed they could win at the time?

“We both thought we had a realistic shot,” Bouricius said. “We didn’t think it was necessarily likely but we had a chance.”

Sanders seemed ready to do whatever it takes to improve his chances. After addressing his supporters in Iowa, he boarded a charter flight that took off for New Hampshire in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. He has a rally scheduled in Keene, N.H., later in the day.

Follow Emilie Stigliani on Twitter: @EmilieStigliani