Bernie Sanders won the Oregon primary on Tuesday, securing the support of the Pacific Northwest state’s liberal wing and aiding his quest to bring the fight against Hillary Clinton to the Democratic convention.
Little polling was done in the state prior to primary, with most of it showing a slight Clinton lead. But the state’s demographics and voting largely mirror Washington State, where Sanders won by more than 50 points.
The one downside for Sanders was that Oregon has a closed primary, keeping out the independents who have helped him in the past. Clinton was previously undefeated in closed primaries.
While all Oregonians are automatically registered to vote once they receive their drivers license, voters must independently register with a political party in order to participate in the primaries, something a small percentage of Oregonians actually do.
Leading up to the Oregon primary Clinton led Sanders in pledged delegates 1,716 to 1,433, and once superdelegates are brought into the equation she led him 2,240 to1,437.
Although Sanders is hundreds of delegates behind Clinton, the Vermont senator’s campaign hopes to prevent the democratic front-runner from reaching the necessary 2,383 delegates before the Democratic Party gathers in July and competing with her in a contested convention.
Even with the win in Oregon, the Democrats’ proportional system for awarding delegates makes it difficult for Sanders to catch Clinton. The two split delegates in Kentucky earlier Tuesday.
