By Bill Badour
UNIVERSITY CENTER – On Saturday, Feb. 22, Nevada held its Democratic presidential caucuses.
Bernie Sanders dominated, gaining 46.8% of the county delegates. Joe Biden had a much better showing than in the first two states, gathering 20.2% of the county delegates. Pete Buttigieg earned 14.3%.
This was an incredibly strong showing for the Sanders campaign. The three moderates in Nevada combined for 38.7% of the county delegates, 8.1% less than Sanders alone, putting Sanders in the lead.
Sanders earned 24 delegates from Nevada, putting him in the clear lead in total delegates awarded. Sanders is a close second among voters who consider themselves moderate.
Many eyes were on Biden, who struggled in Iowa and New Hampshire. Nevada was seen as the state that Biden would rebound because of the first two states’ lack of diversity.
According to Brookings.edu, Iowa and New Hampshire are both predominantly white states with more than 85% of the population being white. Nevada’s population, however, is less than 50% white – nearly 30% of their residents are Hispanic or Latino and 10% are black.
Biden’s showing, while not as great as he would have wanted, was still strong enough for him to be considered a viable candidate. Biden’s strongest support group has been black voters, so he still has a chance to make a long run.
Elizabeth Warren netted 9.7% of the county delegates. Tom Steyer, who did not qualify for Nevada’s debate, gained 4.7%. Amy Klobuchar, following a surprising showing in New Hampshire, received 4.2%.
Warren needed to have a strong showing in order for her to stay competitive in comparison to Sanders among more progressive Democrats. However, it is becoming clear that more progressive voters are siding with Sanders.
Klobuchar, who gained nearly 20% of the popular vote in New Hampshire, had the lowest showing among any major candidate on the ballot. Klobuchar performed better among white voters than any other race.
There were fewer polls for Nevada, so this was seen as a more unpredictable race. Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City, chose not to participate as a candidate in any primary or caucus before Super Tuesday.
Participants at this year’s Nevada caucuses reached 105,000 people — over 20,000 more participants than in their 2016 caucuses.