Pete Buttigieg is the new Democrat frontrunner in Iowa

According to a new Monmouth University poll, Democrat South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg is leading his Democrat opponents in Iowa, clenching frontrunner status as voters’ first choice, with 22% of likely caucus-goers saying he is their first choice.

Buttigieg leads Warren (19%), Biden (18%), and Bernie (13%), gaining 14% since August’s poll.

The news of Buttigieg’s surge is sure to make stakes that much higher for his fellow candidates, including that of former Vice President Joe Biden, who is dealing with a scandal involving his son and Ukraine.

Buttigieg has seen improvements in many other Iowa polls, making his candidacy look more viable by the day. The surge in support comes as Iowa Democrats look to move away from older, more seasoned candidates such as Biden, Sanders, or Warren.

Although Buttigieg is leading in the Iowa polls, so was Hillary Clinton in 2008, although months later, then-Senator Barack Hussein Obama would swoop in to clinch the Democrat nomination and later the presidency.