Eight years after she beat Barack Obama in West Virginia, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton lost the state Tuesday to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
The senator was leading his Democratic presidential rival 50 to 39 percent Tuesday evening with 45 percent of precincts reporting.
Sanders’ victory came a week after he notched a surprising win in Indiana. He has now won 19 states to Clinton’s 23.
In a statement issued by his campaign, Sanders noted that West Virginia “is a working-class state and many of the people there are hurting.”
“They know, like most Americans, that it is too late for establishment politics and establishment economics,” he said. “They want real change.”
Rural, blue-collar and largely white, West Virginia was fertile ground for Sanders, who has performed well with such demographics. He may have also been helped by an impolitic remark Clinton made in March when discussing her climate change plans.
“We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business, right?” she said in Ohio.
According to the Associated Press, Sanders was on track to win at least 14 delegates Tuesday, while Clinton was set to pick up at least 10. That still leaves him far behind the woman whom many now consider the party’s presumptive nominee.
The AP’s tally has Clinton leading Sanders 1,715 to 1,428 among pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention and 2,238 to 1,467 among all delegates.
“We fully acknowledge we have an uphill climb ahead of us, but we’re used to that,” Sanders said in his statement. “We have been fighting uphill from the day this campaign began. And after all the votes are cast and counted and this contest moves to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the delegates will decide which candidate is the strongest nominee to take on [presumptive Republican nominee] Donald Trump in November. All of the evidence indicates that I am that candidate.”
Sanders’ winning streak could continue next Tuesday, when Kentucky and Oregon both go to the polls.
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From your email: “Bernie Sanders has now won 19 states to Clinton’s 23, but he’s still several hundred delegates behind the frontrunner.”
Actually he’s 1715-1439=276 delegates behind, as the numbers you grabbed from Nate Silver’s 538 show. Why you then chose to include party officials who don’t vote until the convention in July is an interesting question.
Hey Bernie’s drawing record crowds of passionate supporters who believe so much that they are putting their money where their mouth is. But Clinton has more votes and delegates, earned and purchased. She wins primaries where independents aren’t allowed to vote. Bernie wins in open primaries where independents, the largest registered voting bloc in the US are allowed to vote.
Many establishment Democrats resent the impact of the largest bloc of American Voters on their party and that’s unfortunate for the Democratic Party and our country. Hey Democrats wake up, America is saying no to the same old and yes to the Bernie Sanders’ version of FDR’s new deal. We do a disservice to the country by putting up the weaker candidate against Mr. Trump.
Links
Bernie or Bust
http://www.slideshare.net/onesyrup23/bernieorbust
Party Registration
http://content.gallup.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/bm0szkdjakswkuxgsz2csq.png
Strongest Democrat
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-brasunas/sanders-crushing-trump-in_b_9862708.html
“Sanders’ winning streak could continue next Tuesday, when Kentucky and Oregon both go to the polls.”
and then his winning streak will continue all the way to the White House. Have faith and feel the Bern!