Bernie Sanders won the West Virginia primary on Tuesday night, capturing support in the predominantly white, blue-collar state. But he remains far behind Hillary Clinton in the Democratic delegate count.
Although only two polls were conducted in the state going in to the May 10 primary, they showed Sanders leading Hillary Clinton 46-40, according to RealClearPolitics averages. In the weeks leading up to the vote Sanders spent $22,000 on television and radio ads in West Virginia, whereas the Clinton campaign didn’t spend a single dollar.
The Clinton campaign made some attempt to win over the West Virginian vote during the former secretary of state’s “Breaking Down Barriers” Appalachia tour. The tour, which made stops in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, attempted to ameliorate the damage done by her comment in March that if elected she would put the coal mining industry “out of business” to make way for clean energy. The West Virginian economy relies heavily on coal, and Clinton’s return and apologies to the state did not appear to make much of an impact on voters.
The state’s demographics favored Sanders, as it is predominantly white and working class. Historically, the Vermont senator has been able to beat Clinton in states with small African-American populations. The vote was close for much of Tuesday night, however.
West Virginia also allows independent voters to participate in the Democratic primary, which further aids Sanders, as his campaign has attracted many first time voters and independents.
Sanders spoke at a rally in Oregon after the West Virginia results came in.
“West Virginia is a working-class state, and like many other states in this country, including Oregon, working people are hurting,” he said. “[W]hat the people of West Virginia said tonight, and I believe the people of Oregon and Kentucky will say next week, is that we need an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1 percent.”
While the win will add to Sanders’ pledged delegate count, Clinton is still hundreds of delegates ahead of him when superdelegates are brought into the equation. Sanders is hoping the Democratic convention will be contested while Clinton is expecting to clinch the nomination.
