Sen. Bernie Sanders won the Wyoming caucus Saturday, adding to his win streak, but rival Hillary Clinton nearly split the small state’s 14 delegates with Sanders, in a surprisingly strong finish that undercut Sanders’ claim of growing momentum.
The clock is running down on Sanders’ chances to cut into Clinton’s big delegate lead. By denying Sanders’ a gain in a state where he hoped to dominate, Clinton’s second place showing makes her the candidate who emerged from the caucus closer to the Democratic presidential nomination.
Sanders won Wyoming, according to the Associated Press, with about 56 percent of caucus votes to Clinton’s 44.
Although no polls were conducted in the state going in to the caucus as only 14 delegates were up for grabs, Sanders has proved popular among western Democratic voters. He was expected to easily win Wyoming, as he did in nearby Utah, Idaho and Colorado.
Sanders won at least seven delegates to Clinton’s six. One delegate remains to be allocated. Clinton’s campaign said Saturday they believed they would win that final pledged delegate, earnign a seven to seven split in the state.
With Clinton holding a lead of 250 pledged delegates and far larger lead if so-called superdelegates are included, a tie in Wyoming effectively favors the front-runner. Clinton has 469 superdelegates to Sanders’ 31.
Clinton is more than halfway to the 2,383 delegates needed to win the nomination. Nearly 300 are up for grabs in New York’s April 19 primary, where Clinton leads in polls.
Sanders’ messages of economic populism aimed at the working class has resonated among white, middle class voters and voters under the age of 30.
The Vermont senator won seven of the eight primaries and caucuses leading up to Wyoming, all of which were in the Midwestern or western states: Michigan, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington State, Wisconsin and Colorado.
In the week leading up to the primary, Clinton and Sanders, traded attacks over who is “qualified” to become president, marking one of the most combative weeks in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“This has all been pretty silly,” Clinton told reporters at a campaign stop in Buffalo, in upstate New York Friday, according to Reuters. “He made his comments and there was no basis for them. It was completely a misrepresentation, and he seemed to take them back today.”
