Bernie Sanders scores decisive Nevada win driven by Hispanic, black voters

Bernie Sanders broke away from his rivals in the Democratic presidential race late on Saturday with a decisive win in Nevada, powered by Hispanic and black voters — setting him up for wins in the more diverse Super Tuesday states that would make him a favourite for the nomination.

 

With 60 per cent of precincts reporting, Sanders had 46 per cent to Joe Biden’s 19.6 per cent of the county delegates. Pete Buttigieg was in third with 15.3 per cent, the threshold used to award delegates to the nominating Democratic National Convention.

 

The Vermont senator won more than half the Hispanic vote, according to entrance polls cited by CNN, and expanded his strength with black voters — undercutting criticism that his support is mostly young, white and disaffected. That sets him up to do well in Texas and California, both of which are among the 14 contests on March 3 and come with large delegate prizes.

 

He also gained with Nevada Democratic voters who want a massive overhaul of the US health insurance system. With 62 per cent of caucus-goers saying they want a program akin to Sanders’ Medicare for All, he took 49 per cent of their support.

 

Sanders’ lead was so large that the Associated Press called the race with just 4 per cent of precincts reporting. The Nevada Democratic Party, the official vote-counter of the party-run presidential preference contest, still had reported only 484 out of 2,097 precincts seven hours after the caucuses began. The results dealt a serious blow to the hopes of moderate Democrats who want to stop Sanders. Biden’s second-place finish gives him a slight tailwind heading to an expected strong finish in South Carolina — but does little to erase doubts over whether he is simply too old and out of step with the leftward lean of the party’s base to become its standard-bearer.