By Jesse Stiller
Staff Writer
Bernie Sanders has been declared the winner by a large margin in the Nevada Caucus on Feb. 22, further cementing his status as the candidate to beat in the Democratic primary, according to Vox.
With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, according to The New York Times, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had been declared the official winner with 46.8 percent of the vote, earning 24 delegates to take the lead in the race for the Democratic nomination. Former Vice President Joe Biden received 20 percent of the vote, with nine delegates, and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg received 14.3 percent of the vote, winning three delegates.
“‘In Nevada we have just brought together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition which is not only going to win in Nevada,’” Sanders told his supporters after the victory, according to Haaretz. “‘It’s going to sweep this country.’”
Shortly after Sanders declared victory on Saturday night, his opponents wasted no time pouncing on him to take a piece out of his momentum and keep the race within reach.
Buttigieg warned voters to take a “‘sober look at what’s at stake,’” according to POLITICO, and further described the beliefs of the self-prescribed Democratic Socialist as representative of an “‘inflexible ideological revolution’” that would leave the citizens behind.
Vox also questioned whether or not Bernie could actually beat incumbent President Donald Trump in the general election, suggesting that if Sanders hopes to win, he would need an 11-point surge from youth turnout, which would be unprecedented.
On another note, Biden took a jab at the Vermont senator, according to Vox, stating that the party would need “more help from Valdimir Putin” to beat the incumbent president if Sanders is the nominee, alluding to reports of Russian meddling in the election on behalf of the Sanders campaign.
According to NPR, Sanders was able to win the Hispanic vote by an overwhelming margin, along with those who identified as “‘very liberal’” and those without college degrees, and had also swiped support of black and moderate voters from Joe Biden, eating away at the former Vice President’s core base.
According to The New York Times, 120 precincts had evidence of inconsistent vote counts, with some recording large jumps in their second alignment of the night. In addition, 21 precincts gave delegates to candidates that did not receive the required support to be considered a viable candidate, while 43 precincts gave the most delegates to the candidate with lower support.
But there were no troubles involving phone applications, as the Nevada Democrat Party had abandoned the use of the app following the disastrous Iowa Caucus, according to Vox.
Since the Nevada Caucuses, Billionaire Tom Steyer, Mayor Buttigieg and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar have all dropped out, with the latter two endorsing Biden that is poised to boost his campaign on Super Tuesday.
On Feb. 29, the South Carolina primaries occurred in which Joe Biden won the state by a wide margin, throwing the race back into uncertainty and raising the prospects of a brokered convention.
