As the USA presidential nomination campaign is heading towards decisive caucuses, Democratic contestant Bernie Sanders has won another state, Wyoming, registering seventh consecutive victory over the forerunner Hillary Clinton.
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Bernie Sanders’ wife interrupted his remarks at a campaign rally in NY with news of his latest victory: Wyoming.
The Vermont senator’s biggest victory appears to be in Albany County, where he won almost 75 percent of the vote, taking 25 delegates to former Secretary of State Clinton’s eight delegates, according to kowb1290.com.
The AP puts the total delegate count at 1,749 for Clinton to 1,061 for Sanders when superdelegates – party leaders and elected officials not formally bound to any candidate – are included. Sanders told supporters his campaign is within striking distance of rival Hillary Clinton in New York, WCBS 880’s Stephanie Colombini reported.
But it gives the self-described democratic socialist another morale boost, ahead of the crucial NY primary on 19 April. Sanders has 1,068.
Wyoming s 14 Democratic delegates – fewer than any other state – are awarded proportionally based on support from individuals participating in the nominating contest. When asked whether Sanders is qualified to be president, Hillary Clinton – for the first time – emphatically said “yes”.
Clinton, meanwhile, has pledged to be the “president who brings manufacturing back to upstate NY and America”.
Speaking on CNN on Sunday morning, Clinton shot down the idea that Democrats were headed for a contentious intra-party dispute at the convention in Philadelphia about who will be their presidential nominee. With only 14 delegates at stake, the results won’t mean much in the grand delegate scheme, and Sanders has performed well in similar Western, rural states like Nebraska.
In the Republican race, Ted Cruz is tipped to pick up further delegates at the party’s Colorado convention.
“I feel like it’s a people’s campaign, and it’s what democracy should be”, he said.
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Mr Sanders, who hails from Brooklyn and has called for nothing short of “revolution”, has attracted in particular the youth vote, but he is faring poorly in comparison with Mrs Clinton among African Americans in particular.
