We should’ve closed the book on the Iowa caucuses on Monday night. Instead, we got a procedural meltdown followed by the comically delayed release of partial results, which showed Pete Buttigieg leading in state delegate percentage for days. Buttigieg did a victory tour through the mainstream media, and as a result his polling numbers jumped in New Hampshire.

But Pete Buttigieg did not win Iowa. Bernie Sanders won Iowa. There are many powerful people who don’t want us to say these words. But we should say them without hesitation, because they’re true.

Let’s walk through this together. There are three metrics by which we might measure victory in Iowa: the popular vote, the percentage of state delegates, and the number of pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Right now, Bernie Sanders has won the popular vote, is poised to win the highest percentage of state delegates, and is tied for the number of national delegates. Therefore, Bernie won Iowa.