The third stop for the Democratic hopefuls in the 2020 election is the Nevada caucuses.
Unlike Iowa and New Hampshire, Nevada is a very transient state. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, it leads the nation in the fewest residents who were born in the state. Fewer than 1 in 4 Nevadan residents were born in the state. In 2018, Nevada was ranked the nation’s fastest-growing state, with most of the influx coming from California.
The nation’s eyes are on Nevada for another reason, as it’s far more racially diverse than Iowa and New Hampshire. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 74% of Nevadans identify as white, 10% identify as black, and 29% identify as Hispanic or Latino. That’s a tremendous shift from New Hampshire and Iowa, in which over 90% of the residents identify as white.
Following the chaos in Iowa, where an application that tabulates and reports election results crashed, the Nevada Democratic Party, which was supposed to use the same application, announced they were going to resort to using iPads and a Google form.
What could possibly go wrong here?
Joe Biden, who’s coming off abysmal fourth- and fifth-place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, respectively, has led in Nevada polls until a week before the Nevada caucuses until Bernie Sanders surged into first, fresh off a New Hampshire primary win.
If Biden can’t cross the finish line in Nevada, expect the alarm to echo throughout the Democratic Party that his candidacy is riding off into the sunset and creating an opportunity for another centrist Democrat to begin their ascent to the nomination.
