(Graphic image above is by DonkeyHotey.)Bernie Sanders had high hopes of winning the Nevada Democratic caucuses. He had spent twice as much money as Hillary Clinton did on ads in that state, and had more campaign workers on the ground trying to get supporters to the polls. But as the caucus results began to roll in, it was apparent that he just couldn't pull it off.
This is a huge defeat for Sanders, even though the final delegate vote was fairly close. With South Carolina coming up in a week, and Super Tuesday just three days behind that, he needed to show he could win in a state with a diverse population -- more diverse than the nearly all-white states of Iowa and New Hampshire (where he did well). Nevada was viewed by most as Sanders best chance to show he could win a state with a diverse population.
It looks like Hillary has won Nevada by about 5 to 6 points, and has taken over 600 more delegates than Sanders out of the about 12,000 precinct delegates chosen. That means Clinton will gat a majority of Nevada's delegates when national delegates are picked at the state convention.
Here's the precinct delegates chosen (and the percentages):
(96% reporting)
Clinton...............6211 (52.7%)
Sanders...............5562 (47.3%)
And here is the current national delegate total:
Clinton...............502
Sanders...............70
How did Clinton win the Nevada caucuses? Here are some telling numbers.
Sanders won among men by 53% to 44%, while Clinton won among women by 57% to 41%. But women outvoted men by 56% to 44%.
Sanders won among those aged 17 to 44 by 72% to 25%, while Clinton won among those 45 & older by 66% to 31%. But the older group outvoted the young group by 63% to 37%.
Sanders won the white vote by 49% to 47%, while Clinton won among non-whites by 56% to 42%. Whites outvoted non-whites by 59% to 41%, but the slim margin among whites wasn't enough to overcome the bigger margin among non-whites.
Clinton won among those making less than $50,000 by 50% to 48%, and among those making more than $50,000 by 51% to 45%.
Sanders won among Independents by 71% to 23%, while Clinton won among Democrats by 58% to 40%. Democrats made up 81% of voters, while Independents only made up 18%.
In short, the groups supporting Hillary Clinton simply voted in larger numbers than the groups supporting Bernie Sanders.
