The race for America’s 2020 presidential elections is broadening across the country.
The next Democratic primary on Saturday in South Carolina, will be followed closely by the Super Tuesday contests in 14 states on March 3, when more than one-third of the pledged delegates will be nominated help select a Democratic nominee.
Joe Biden, the No. 2 to former President Barack Obama, is counting on a strong showing in South Carolina, which has a large bloc of black voters. In Nevada, entrance polls showed Biden led among African Americans with 36%, followed by Sanders with 27%.
The Super Tuesday states will be the first nominating contests for former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has not been competing in the four early voting states but had been rising in opinion polls.
“The Nevada results reinforce the reality that this fragmented field is putting Bernie Sanders on pace to amass an insurmountable delegate lead,” Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said in a statement.
Voters poured into more than 250 caucus sites around Nevada, where Sanders was aided by strong support from the six in 10 voters who said they backed a government-run Medicare for All, the Edison entrance poll showed.
The entrance poll showed Sanders led in Nevada across all age groups except for those older than 65. Around 54% of Latino voters said they backed him, while 24% of college-educated white women and 34% of those who have a union member in their families supported him.
He also won with college graduates, and was the top pick of voters who consider themselves independents. He also was favored over Biden among voters whose top priority is defeating Trump in the November election.
Warren shrugged off her poor finish in Nevada, saying she got a boost in fundraising and support from an aggressive debate performance on Wednesday – which came too late to affect early voting in the first part of the week.
“We have a lot of states to go, and right now I can feel the momentum,” Warren said at a rally in Seattle.
On Twitter, Trump appeared to be enjoying the Democratic race.
“Looks like Crazy Bernie is doing well in the Great State of Nevada. Biden & the rest look weak, & no way Mini Mike,” Trump wrote, the last a reference to Bloomberg.
Nevada caucus officials and voters at multiple sites on Saturday reported voting rules confusion, calculation glitches and delays in reporting tallies – despite efforts to avoid the issues that plagued Iowa’s caucuses earlier this month.
After a technical meltdown delayed results in Iowa, state officials promised a revised reporting system using a telephone hotline and photos of caucus reporting sheets would ensure a smoother process. Nevertheless, precinct chairs at some caucuses experienced long waits on the phone lines.
Four days of early voting in Nevada this week drew more than 75,000 Democrats, more than half first-time voters, putting the party in position to surpass the turnout record of 118,000 in 2008, when Obama’s candidacy electrified the party.
But those early votes had to be counted along with those cast on Saturday, slowing the process.
