Bernie Sanders wins big in Washington, Alaska
US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has easily won the Democratic caucuses in Alaska and Washington state, a crucial victory that would cut into Hillary Clinton’s delegate lead.
The senator from Vermont is also likely to win in Hawaii on Saturday, according to early projections, The Associated Press reported.
Sanders entered the contests with the edge and the Clinton campaign had acknowledged he would win all three Western states.
Washington is the most important state during this round of caucuses, with 101 delegates up for grabs, while Hawaii and Alaska have 25 and 16 delegates at stake respectively.
Sanders has done well in caucus states, a testament to his organizational ability and skill to excite the Democratic base.
“He's obviously doing well in these Western caucus states, because you get a very committed base of younger voters who are willing to show up and stand in line in states like Idaho and Utah for hours," said veteran Democratic strategist Bill Carrick.
During last Tuesday’s primary elections, Sanders won in Idaho and Utah, but fell short in Arizona.
According to a CNN/ORC survey last week, Sanders has a 20-point lead over Republican front-runner Donald Trump in a head-to-head contest. Clinton held a 12-point lead over Trump in the same survey.
“The great state of Washington has the opportunity to help lead this country into a political revolution,” Sanders said Friday.
Due to Clinton’s current lead — 1,223 pledged delegates to 920 for Sanders — and because Democratic convention delegates are distributed proportionally to the primary results, Sanders will have to win upcoming contests by very large margins to catch up.
'We're making significant inroads' against Clinton
Speaking at a rally in Wisconsin on Saturday, Sanders said, "We are making significant inroads in Secretary Clinton's lead, and we have, with your support coming here in Wisconsin, we have a path toward victory."
The independent senator also acknowledged the tough times his campaign saw in the early primaries, particularly in Southern states.
"You know, we knew from day one that we were going to have, politically, a hard time in the Deep South. That is a conservative part of our country," Sanders said. "But we knew things were going to improve as we headed west."
"I think it is hard for anybody to deny that our campaign has the momentum. You are the momentum. Look around you tonight," he said to an energetic crowd.
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