The former Secretary of State also won a primary election Tuesday in Nebraska, though it won’t increase her lead as the party allocated all of its delegates to the summer nominating convention at a caucus won in March by Sanders. It was not a victory likely to heal the party’s wounds, as some GOP leaders continue to hold off offering their endorsement.
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The Vermont senator still trails Hillary Clinton in the overall contest for delegates but this win keeps his slim hopes alive.
The New York real estate developer has taunted Clinton in recent days by saying she “can’t close the deal” with Sanders, her only rival since February 1.
Before Tuesday’s results, Mrs Clinton was just 155 delegates short of the 2,383 needed to secure the Democratic nomination, according to the Associated Press.
According to analysts, Sanders, long viewed as the front runner to win in the Mountain State, benefited from Clinton’s mis-steps when speaking about the coal industry in mining-heavy West Virginia.
“Our vision is the future of America and the future of the Democratic primary”, Sanders said.
On the Republican side, Trump has won the Republican presidential primaries in West Virginia and Nebraska, adding to his claim on the GOP’s nomination.
Although Mr Trump is the sole candidate from what had been a 17-person field vying for his party’s nomination, Republican voters in West Virginia and Nebraska still had a chance to register their preferences on Tuesday, with the names of most of his vanquished rivals still appearing on ballots.
But Mr Trump faces a huge task in trying to get the Republican party behind him, as doubts persist about his substance and style.
“It is a great honour to have won both West Virginia and Nebraska, especially by such massive margins”.
Democratic US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Salem, Oregon, US, May 10, 2016.
Trump has said that he would like a unified Republican Party, but doesn’t think he’ll need one to win in November.
Clinton is entering the Tuesday primaries with 2,228 delegates to Sanders’ 1,454.
Eight years ago, West Virginia helped Clinton in the same way it might aid Sanders on Tuesday – her landslide victory in the primary over Barack Obama boosted her morale even if it wasn’t enough to change the basic delegate math that made it impossible for her to win the nomination.
Mr Trump was also on course to break the record for the most votes won by any candidate in the history of Republican presidential nomination contests.
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While trying to make peace with the coal community in Williamson earlier this month, she was met with protests. Her team went up with a $160,000 ad buy in Kentucky on Tuesday, a modest effort aimed at cutting into Sanders’ support before the state’s primary in a week.
