Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders picked up his seventh straight win Saturday in Wyoming, gaining a bit more energy and attention before the New York primary, where the Vermont senator needs an upset win to stay on track.
Sanders crushed Hillary Clinton in the Wyoming caucus, 55.7 percent to 44.3 percent.
“Alright, news bulletin. We just won Wyoming,” Sanders said to a New York City crowd at LaGuardia Community College. “We appreciate and thank the people of Wyoming so much for their support.”
While Sanders’ margin of victory was large, the state only has a total of 18 delegates to award. The win won’t chip away at Clinton’s large lead in pledged delegates, which stands at over 200.
Clinton and Sanders are each expected to leave the state with seven pledged delegates. When the state’s four super delegates are accounted for — all of whom have pledged support for Clinton– the former secretary of state comes out of Wyoming with winning numbers.
Following a set of early setbacks in the primary calendar, Sanders must now perform exceptionally well in virtually all remaining contests, and over the past few weeks he has.
Sanders won big in Wisconsin on Tuesday, and has secured other double-digit wins in recent weeks out of a number of states, including Washington and Utah.
Campaign manager Jeff Weaver said Saturday that the campaign has cut into Clinton’s delegate lead by 101 since March.
“That dramatic gain leaves us only 214 delegates behind,” Weaver said. “A margin we can and fully intend to surpass by the conclusion of voting on June 14.”
The campaign also released an updated list of super delegates, adding that 10 had signed on in the last three weeks. Sanders now has 38 super delegates compared with Clinton’s 469.
Following the string of wins out West, Sanders now heads east, for the New York primary on April 19. The election is make or break for Sanders.
New York has 291 delegates, the most of any state on the calendar so far. If Sanders wins, his campaign will remain viable; if he loses, he likely will no longer have a shot at the Democratic nomination in July.
