Bernie Sanders Wins Nevada Caucuses, Strengthening His Primary Lead

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February 23, 2020 9:04 AM

LAS VEGAS — Sen. Bernie Sanders claimed a major victory in the Nevada caucuses Saturday that demonstrated his broad appeal in the first racially diverse state in the presidential primary race and established him as the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination.

Bernie Sanders Wins Nevada Caucuses, Strengthening His Primary Lead

In a significant show of force, the progressive Sanders was leading his nearest rivals by a significant amount in initial tallies, and The Associated Press named him the winner early Saturday evening.

His triumph in Nevada, after strong performances in Iowa and New Hampshire, will propel him into next Saturday’s primary in South Carolina, and the Super Tuesday contests immediately thereafter, with a burst of momentum that may make it difficult for the still-fractured moderate wing of the party to slow his march.

Sanders’ success, and the continued uncertainty over who is his strongest would-be rival, makes it less clear than ever how centrist forces in the party can organize themselves for a potentially monthslong nomination fight. The moderate wing is still grappling with an unusually crowded field for this late in the race, no clear alternative to Sanders and no sign that any of those vying for that role will soon drop out to hasten a coalescence.

As results were being counted Saturday night, former Vice President Joe Biden, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, billionaire investor Tom Steyer and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota were all competing for what would clearly be a distant second-place finish.

The fragmentation of the vote among all of those candidates, not only in Nevada but in the coming primaries, is likely to strengthen Sanders. After the split decision in Iowa, where he shared the lead with Buttigieg, and a modest victory in New Hampshire, he proved his ability to win convincingly in a more diverse state, an outcome that often eluded him in his 2016 bid for the Democratic nomination.

With its mix of Hispanic, African American and Asian American voters, Nevada offered Sanders a rejoinder to critics who claim he cannot broaden his appeal beyond his base of white liberals.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .

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