Hillary Clinton captured Nevada’s Democratic caucuses today, overcoming an unexpectedly strong surge by Bernie Sanders and potentially easing the anxiety of some of her supporters.
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The Vermont senator said in a statement that he congratulated Clinton on her victory. Sanders, meanwhile, has one win under his belt, handing a stinging 22-point defeat to Clinton in the New Hampshire primary.
With 80% of precincts reporting, Clinton captured 52.1% support in Nevada, compared 47.8% for Sanders. For voters wanting a candidate who “cares about people like me”, eight in 10 chose Sanders.
The Republican fared poorly in earlier contests in Iowa and New Hampshire and said the race had been “hard fought” but that voters of those three states had spoken. The first Southern Democratic contest comes just a few days before a major set of nomination contests known as super Tuesday.
The South Carolina results were also being watched closely for indications of who, if anyone, among the more mainstream candidates might emerge to challenge Trump.
Trump’s performance could unnerve the Republican establishment, since SC has sided with the eventual nominee in every GOP presidential race since 1980, apart from 2012.
Clinton ended by asking her to supporters to “imagine a tomorrow” where her white paper proposals on climate change, immigration reform and college tuition are policy. But Sanders has emphasized his family’s immigrant roots here in ads and on the campaign trail, noting that his father was a Polish immigrant to America who originally spoke little English. “I’m proud of the campaign we’ve run”, he said.
Bernie Sanders’s quixotic tilt at the White House needed an upset in the Nevada Caucuses tonight.
“Tens of thousands of men and women with kids to raise, bills to pay, and dreams that won’t die – this is your campaign”, she told a crowd at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
Thousands of supporters gathered at TSU to hear Clinton on Saturday.
Prior to voting took place, Clinton did the rounds on the Vegas strip, where she made a point of meeting with casino staff, many of whom are Hispanic.
Older and nonwhite voters appear to have buoyed Clinton past Sanders, according to entrance poll data.
During the MSNBC/Telemundo forum, Sanders also defended his 2007 vote against legislation that would have revamped the immigration system, stating that he objected to guest-worker provisions that were described by one legal advocacy group as being “akin to slavery”.
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President Obama’s popularity among South Carolina Democrats hurt her in 2008, but now it could be an advantage.
