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Andrew Yang Ahead of Pete Buttigieg in Democratic Nomination Odds

Robert Duff

by Robert Duff in Politics News

Updated May 14, 2020 · 4:39 PM PDT

Andrew Yang speaking
Andrew Yang is the heavy favorite to be the next mayor of NYC in 2021. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Collision (flickr) [CC License].
  • Andrew Yang (+1200) is ahead of Pete Buttigieg (+1400) in their 2020 Democratic Presidential odds
  • However, Buttigieg still has better odds, on average, than Yang
  • Yang was recently endorsed by SpaceX founder Elon Musk

Is the Andrew Yang Gang ganging up on Pete Buttigieg?

Sportsbooks would seem to be of that opinion.

Oddsmakers have lowered their odds on Yang winning the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination. He’s at +1200, putting him ahead of Buttigieg for the first time.

2020 Democratic Presidential Nomination Odds

Candidate Odds
Elizabeth Warren +250
Joe Biden +300
Bernie Sanders +650
Kamala Harris +700
Andrew Yang +1200
Pete Buttigieg +1400
Tusli Gabbard +2000
Cory Booker +3300
Beto O’Rourke +3300
Marianne Williamson +5000

*Odds taken on 08/14/19. 

Taking into account a number of the top online sportsbooks, overall, Buttigieg (+1000) still maintains an advantage over Yang (+1400) in the Democratic Nomination odds.

Is Yang 2020’s Bernie?

In 2016, Bernie Sanders made hay in the Democratic Presidential race. He cast himself as the outsider, even though he’d served in the US Senate since 2007, albeit as an Independent. Young people were drawn to his socialist platform.

This time around, Yang appears to be capturing that energy. He truly is a Washington outsider. Heck, he’s a political outsider. Yang’s never held any elected position prior to running for President. That factor didn’t seem to hurt the guy who won in 2016.

His Universal Basic Income (UBI) plan is definitely resonating with young people. It would see the government cut checks for $1000 each month to every American 18 or older. Funding would be provided via a tax on corporations.

It doesn’t appear to hold the same sway across all demographics, however. Polling by FiveThirtyEight shows that just 48 percent of Americans and 65 percent of Democrats see UBI as a good idea.

Yang’s popularity with youth is his strongest suit. He’s extremely popular on Reddit and Twitter. Those social media sites are dominated by a younger audience.

Ten percent of the eligible electorate in 2020 will be 23 or younger.

Is Buttigieg Slipping?

No one has ever gone from mayor to President in one step, as Buttigieg is trying to do. Lately, there’s been some evidence that Mayor Pete may have bitten off more than he can chew.

Buttigieg hit on his best odds to win the nomination on April 25th when he was at +350.  Those odds have steadily grown longer ever since. He was +480 on May 13 and +580 on June 5. By July 13, he’d hit +630.

Buttigieg slipped to +900 by the end of July and then to his current average odds of +1000.

Why the slippage? People fell in love with Mayor Pete’s charisma. As he made more public appearances, the cult of personality enabled him to soar.

More issues have since come under scrutiny from his time as Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Evidence has been provided of mistakes he made there due to inexperience. As well, issues with African-American community have come  light.

In With A Chance?

Could Yang or Buttigieg be President in 2020?

That seems very unlikely.

It might be too soon to write off a top-six candidate prior to primary season. Still, the current numbers don’t support either man owning a realistic chance to move into the White House in January of 2021.

2020 Democratic Presidential Primary Polls

Candidate California Iowa New Hampshire North Carolina Pennsylvania
Pete Buttigieg 6% 8% 8% 5% 6%
Andrew Yang 1% 2% 4% 1% 0%

There’s no state where either candidate rates higher than fifth in current polling.

As a result, placing a wager at this point on either Yang or Buttigieg would also be a UBI – a universally bad investment.

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