This week, the Monmouth
University poll of Iowa caucus goers put South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete
Buttigieg at the top of leaderboard of Democratic candidates there. A new
Quinnipiac University poll in New Hampshire had Joe Biden in first place with
20 percent of the vote, closely followed by Elizabeth Warren at 16 percent, and
Pete Buttigieg at 15 percent.  Among independents who can vote in the New
Hampshire primary, Buttigieg was in second place.

How many mayors are running for
president and should we take their candidacies seriously? Last week, former New
York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he may throw his hat into the
presidential ring, skipping the early contests as another NYC mayor Rudy
Guiliani did without success in 2008. Bloomberg and Buttigieg are part an
unusual number of current or former mayors in the Democratic contest. Two, New
York City mayor Bill de Blasio, and former Denver, Colorado mayor John
Hickenlooper, have already left the race. Still in the contest are former mayor
of San Antonio, Julian Castro, former Newark, New Jersey mayor Cory Booker,
former mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Bernie Sanders, and current Miramar,
Florida mayor, Wayne Messam.

How realistic are mayors’ chances of getting to the White House? According to Stu Rothenberg, writing in Roll Call, the last time a mayor was nominated for president by a major party was in 1812! That was New York City mayor DeWitt Clinton. No mayor, he says, has gone straight to the White House.

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