LAS VEGAS — Hillary Clinton cranked out a win in the Nevada caucuses Saturday. It was a much-needed boost to her candidacy, which was wounded by momentum-building performances from Bernie Sanders in the first two nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
With nearly 90 percent of precincts reporting by late Saturday, the Associated Press gave Clinton a four point lead in the Silver state, 52 percent to Sanders’ 48 percent
Sanders performed best in the rural parts of the state, besting Clinton by nearly 30 points in northern Humboldt County. His impressive statistics in the north were driven by Hispanic voters, a bloc the Vermont senator had aggressively courted in the run up to the election.
Roughly 80,000 Silver State residents showed up Saturday to caucus, far fewer than the 120,000 in 2008, when Clinton clinched a 5-point win over Barack Obama, 50 percent to 45 percent.
Delivering his concession speech Saturday at the same outdoor pavilion in Henderson he packed Friday night with thousands, Sanders made his remarks in front of a much smaller crowd of diehard fans Saturday evening.
In an 8-minute speech made under a bright hot sun, the Vermont senator chalked up the loss as a soft win, working to solidify his image as a dark horse who has — and will — come back from large polling deficits.
“You know, five weeks ago we were 25 points behind in the polls,” Sanders began his speech, adding “We’ve made some real progress.”
Sanders won New Hampshire last week by 22 points and narrowly lost Iowa on Feb. 1, mounting unexpectedly strong challenges in both states that left the Clinton camp unsettled.
On Saturday, Clinton was beaming, glad that last-minute polls and news reports suggesting a surprise Sanders win were inaccurate.
“Thank you, Nevada,” she said in her victory speech in a big ballroom at Caesars Palace. “Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other.”
Caesar’s Caucus
In the hour or before the caucuses began Saturday morning, a small crew of women from the pro-Bernie National Nurses United visited shops in the vast retail complex attached to Caesars Palace, hoping to convince workers to caucus for the Vermont senator.
After leaving an ornate Burberry outlet, one of the nurses said she and her comrades had been canvassing in Nevada for three days, and that they had swung some voters.
After hitting a dozen or so visits at the upscale boutiques, two elderly security guards confronted the nurses and told them to cease their canvassing.
“This is private property,” a white-haired guard said, scowling.
An hour or so after the nurses canvassed, hundreds of caucus goers lined up in front of the Milano conference room, located a short distance from the mall, through the Palace’s city of slot machines and Romanesque statues.
Many of the caucus attendees were Hispanic hospitality workers taking a break from work on the strip. Card-dealers, line cooks and cleaners supporting Clinton chanted “Hillary!” and “Si se puede,” the Spanish translation of President Barack Obama’s historic campaign slogan “Yes, we can!”
Exactly 278 people crammed into the Milano room for the caucus, where the precinct chair counted the room twice, and instructions were given in both English and Spanish.
There were clearly more Clinton supporters in the room, and the final tally had 190 people supporting the former secretary of state against Sanders’ 81.
One of the 81 Sanderistas was Cliff Tate, an employee at the Cafe Americano in Caesars Palace. He said Clinton’s entire campaign was predicated on her gender, while Sanders focused on the issues.
“Granted not all of the large changes Sanders wants to make will be easy to do, or even possible,” Tate said. “But where he is pushing, that’s what I’d like our country to eventually be.”
Richard Wright, 24, said that as a student and union worker at the Bellagio Resort & Casino, Sanders’ platform would bring him greater economic stability.
Patrick Weaver, a 29-year-old cook at the Bellagio, said Sanders’ education platform is most appealing to him. He said has been unable to lower his $50,000 college debt after 10 years of payments because of high interest rates.
“Clinton has jumped around a lot on the issues,” Weaver said. “But Bernie has been saying the same thing since 1991, and that makes me feel confident in him.”
The Speeches
Clinton bested Sanders in all six Las Vegas casino caucuses, earning a 10-point lead over the senator in Clark County, the southernmost county in Nevada, which includes Sin City.
A floor up from where Clinton won the Caesars crowd, she gave her victory speech to a crowd of diehards before jetting out to Texas for an evening rally in Houston, Texas.
Before Clinton spoke, supporters danced and staffers hugged. The pop hit “Fight Song” played over loudspeakers after CNN projected Clinton had won.
“The truth is we aren’t a single issue country,” she said to applause, echoing criticism she now routinely levels against Sanders. “We need more than a plan for the big banks. The middle class needs a raise, and we need more jobs.”
As Clinton was jabbing at Sanders and projecting newfound confidence, the senator’s police motorcade was racing south on Interstate 15 to Henderson, where he made his concession speech.
Sanders congratulated Clinton when he got onstage for waging an “aggressive” fight. He then claimed his campaign retained momentum after Nevada, noting he had greatly outperformed Silver state polls taken a few weeks ago.
His campaign simultaneously blasted out press releases highlighting his recent win in the Granite state and announcing the campaign had collected more than $4 million in donations. Sanders has raised a total of $100 million.
“This campaign is built for the long haul and is drawing millions of new people into the process,” Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver said in a statement.
Near the end of his speech, Sanders also said the campaign was far from over, and that he anticipated a number of wins when 11 states vote on March 1, also known as Super Tuesday.
“The wind is at our backs,” Sanders said as a slight breeze blew through the outdoor pavilion. “We have the momentum.”
While the crowd was sparse, and hundreds of seats weren’t filled, the supporters at the speech screamed and yelled and smiled. Sanders smiled back.
“I believe that when Democrats assemble in Philadelphia in July at that convention we are going to see the results of one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States,” he said in his concluding remarks.
The Vermont senator then left the stage, headed for a plane to South Carolina, where polls indicate he faces another tough battle.
As fans shuffled out of the pavilion, a man hocking Sanders merchandise screamed “Feel the Bern, guys,” and a few people stopped to make a purchase.
(Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 to correct the turnout figures.)
