Bernie Sanders Declared Winner of Nevada Caucuses

The Wrap

Published

Bernie Sanders is projected to win Saturday’s Nevada caucus, the third big contest in the Democratic primary going into the 2020 general election, the Associated Press is projecting.

Even with less than 10 percent of precincts reporting, NBC News, the Associated Press and Politico, among others all declared a victory for Sanders early in the evening after he was shown to have a commanding lead over the rest of the field in Nevada. So as more numbers are reported, the rest of the race will be for second place to determine what other candidates could get a boost of momentum headed into the South Carolina primary on Feb. 29 and Super Tuesday on March 3.

Thirty six delegates are at stake in Nevada, and we’ll update the final delegate count as the full results trickle in.

*Also Read:* Mike Bloomberg's Debut Hands NBC News the Most-Watched Democratic Debate Ever

While Nevada’s contest did not have the “inconsistencies” that delayed the announcement of the Iowa caucus final results and never resulted in an official “winner,” Nevada’s contest was not without criticism. When the vote at a Nevada caucus site ends in a tie, as happened in several districts on Saturday, the tie is broken by a draw from a deck of cards, with the candidate who draws the high card winning the precinct.

The caucus followed the ninth Democratic debate of the election cycle Wednesday night, which broke ratings records to become the most-watched ever for the left, according to Nielsen numbers. The hype surrounding Mike Bloomberg’s debut on the big stage surely helped with that.

The primary debate aired on NBC and MSNBC from 9 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET, bringing in an average of 19.658 million total viewers. Of those viewers, 5.310 million came from the advertiser-coveted age demographic of adults 25-54.

More to come…

*Related stories from TheWrap:*

Mike Bloomberg's Debut Hands NBC News the Most-Watched Democratic Debate Ever

Candidates Armed With Bloomberg Oppo Research (and Plenty of Zings) at 9th Democratic Debate

Protesters Interrupt Biden's Closing Remarks at Nevada Democratic Debate

Sanders and Warren Waste No Time Going After Bloomberg at Nevada Democratic Debate

Full Article