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Bernie Sanders wins Nevada caucus and makes Democratic history

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Bernie Sanders wins Nevada caucus and makes Democratic history

Bernie Sanders has celebrated winning an apparent landslide in Nevada caucuses, propelling him into solid frontrunnrer status among Democrats and bringing him one step closer to taking on Donald Trump in November.

Less than six months after suffering a heart attack in the state as he was campaigning, the 78-year-old senator was set to secure a massive win on the back of momentum driven by the support of young people and Latino voters.

Speaking before cheering supporters in San Antonio, Texas, where he was already campaigning, he repeated his criticism that Mr Trump was “a pathological liar running a corrupt administration”.

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Yet, he vowed his supporters could see real change in their lifetimes if they continued to show up in the kind of numbers that had allowed him to make history by winning the popular vote in each of three of the states to have voted – a first for the Democratic Party

“We won the Iowa caucus. We won the New Hampshire primary. Now, according to three networks, we have won the Nevada caucus,” he declared, to roars and cheers.

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“So let me thank the people of Nevada for their support. In Nevada we have put together a multi-generational, multi-racial coalition that not only swept Nevada, but will sweep the country.”

With networks projecting Mr Sanders could win half of the delegates in the first state in the west to vote, former vice president Joe Biden looked set to come in second, something pollsters had predicted but which nevertheless will be a massive relief to Mr Biden, struggling to keep his campaign alive.

Speaking to supporters, Mr Biden said he felt “really good” about what his campaign had achieved in Nevada.

“I know we don’t have the final results yet, but I feel really good,” he said. “You put me in a position, you know the press is ready to declare people dead quickly, but we’re alive and we’re coming back and we’re going to win.”

He added: “I think we’re in the position now to move on in a way that we haven’t been until this moment. I think we are going to go, we’re going to win in South Carolina, and then Super Tuesday and we are on our way.”

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Former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, having come joint first in Iowa and a close second to Mr Sanders in New Hampshire has been struggling to maintain momentum. He looked set to come in third in Nevada, ahead of Elizabeth Warren in fourth slot, and Amy Klobuchar in fifth.

Mr Buttigieg, whose campaign has faced repeated questions as to whether its candidate could win the support of people of colour, warned against Mr Sanders’ nomination, even as he issued his congratulations.

“I congratulate senator Sanders on a strong showing today,” Mr Buttigieg said. “But before we rush to nominate senator Sanders. Let us take a sober look at what is at stake.”

He added: “We can prioritise either ideological purity or inclusive victory. We can either call people names online or we can call them into our movement.”

Nevada, which has a Latino population of around 30 per cent, is seen a major test of candidates ability to win over voters of colour. Next week, South Carolina, with its large African American population, hold its primary.

One of the little told stories of the 2020 race has been the way Mr Sanders has built support among people of colour over the last four years. That has particularly been true among Latino voters. 

In Nevada he had a huge ground operation, with up to 250 paid members of staff, along with countless volunteers. 

The Vermont senator said in recent months his campaign in Nevada had knocked on 500,000 doors, no small feat in a state with a population of 3 million.

Democratic Party officials in the state also no doubt sighed a huge sigh of relief after the poll went off without a hitch, a marked contrast to the voting debacle three weeks ago in Iowa.

Despite Mr Sanders’s success, he remains some way from being able to feel comfortable that he is going to secure the nomination. On 3 March, so-called Super Tuesday, more than 12 states hold their primaries. That will be the first indication of how much genuine support Michael Bloomberg has been able to secure with his non-traditional campaign, on which he has already spent $400m of his own money on political advertising.

Of those to offer congratulations, of a kind, was Mr Trump. 

“Looks like Crazy Bernie is doing well in the Great State of Nevada. Biden & the rest look weak, & no way Mini Mike can restart his campaign after the worst debate performance in the history of Presidential Debates,” he tweeted. “Congratulations Bernie, & don’t let them take it away from you!”

Additional reporting by agencies

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