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A bigger slice of likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers now view presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg favorably as more of them have gotten to know him, according to a new Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

The South Bend, Indiana, mayor, is viewed favorably by 69% of poll respondents. That’s second only to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who is viewed favorably by 75%.

“I feel more comfortable with his candidacy rather than any other candidate at this time,” said David Huntley, a 56-year-old poll respondent in Cedar Rapids who works in retirement administration. Huntley plans to caucus for Buttigieg. “… He has the qualities of leadership and demeanor that I like to see in candidates.”

Just 13% of poll respondents say they view Buttigieg unfavorably, the lowest percentage among the Democratic candidates tested in the poll. His favorable-to-unfavorable ratio was 61-12% in an Iowa Poll conducted in June, though the data are not directly comparable because the methodology was slightly different.

However, the portion of likely Iowa caucusgoers who say Buttigieg is their first choice for president has dropped by 6 percentage points since the June poll, from 15% to 9%.

His rank in the field is fourth, the same as in June, trailing Warren at 22%, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden, 20%, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 11%.

The poll of 602 likely Democratic caucusgoers was conducted Sept. 14-18 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

For those who pick Buttigieg as their first choice, nearly half describe themselves as “extremely enthusiastic” about their choice, matching the level of Sanders supporters who describe themselves that way. Fewer supporters of the front-runners claim that description: 32% for Warren and 22% for Biden.

Buttigieg, 37, who, if elected, would become the nation's youngest president, often talks about the need for a new generation of leadership. But the poll shows he is more popular among older likely caucusgoers than younger ones. Of those who are 65 and over, 74% view him favorably, compared to 66% of those under 35.

J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., which conducted the poll, said that's not a large gap, but described it as “counterintuitive” given Buttigieg’s campaign narrative.

Buttigieg’s highest favorability is with suburban dwellers (84%), and his lowest is 55% with first-time caucusgoers.

He launched his presidential bid with little name recognition in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

See all of our latest Iowa Poll results:

​​​​​​​In an Iowa Poll released in March, just 17% of poll respondents viewed Buttigieg favorably, while 10% viewed him unfavorably, and 73% said they were not sure. His name recognition began to increase after a well-received televised CNN town hall event.

Buttigieg has since used some of his haul in campaign fundraising to invest heavily into his Iowa operations, growing it from a handful of staff in May to nearly 100 on the ground as of early September.

Buttigieg, who visited Iowa several times over the summer, also recently opened 20 field offices in the state and began airing television and radio ads here.

Barbara Rodriguez covers Pete Buttigieg, the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at bcrodriguez@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8011. Follow her on Twitter @bcrodriguez​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

About the poll

The Iowa Poll, conducted September 14-18, 2019, for The Des Moines Register, CNN and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 602 registered voters in Iowa who say they will definitely or probably attend the 2020 Democratic caucuses.

Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted 3,510 randomly selected active voters from the Iowa secretary of state’s voter registration list by telephone. The sample was supplemented with additional phone number lookups. Interviews were administered in English. Responses for all contacts were adjusted by age, sex and congressional district to reflect their proportions among active voters in the list.

Questions based on the sample of 602 voters likely to attend the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 4.0 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 4.0 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents — such as by gender or age — have a larger margin of error.

Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register, CNN, and Mediacom is prohibited.