Democratic US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders won decisive victories in Democratic caucuses in Alaska, Washington and Hawaii on Saturday, giving his campaign a much-needed boost as he seeks to disrupt Democratic US presidential frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton’s path to the party’s presidential nomination.
US networks projected Sanders winning by wide margins in Washington, where 101 delegates were up for grabs, in Alaska, where 16 delegates were at stake, and in Haiwaii, where 25 delegates were in play.
“Thank you, Alaska! Together we are sending a message that this government belongs to all of us,” Sanders tweeted. “Washington, thank you for your huge support! It is hard for anybody to deny that our campaign has the momentum.”
With victory in all three contests, Sanders turned his attention to the election contests ahead.
Appearing at a campaign rally in the midwestern state of Wisconsin, Sanders said that after recent election defeats to Clinton, the tide now is turning in his favor.
“We knew things were going to improve as we headed west,” he said to cheers. “We are making significant inroads in Secretary Clinton’s lead and we have ... a path toward victory.”
US networks projected Sanders winning 79.2 percent against 20.8 percent for Clinton in Alaska.
In Washington, he was projected to win 72.1 percent against 27.7 for Clinton, while in Haiwaii he was projected to win 71 percent against 29 percent for Clinton.
“This is what momentum is about,” Sanders told supporters in Wisconsin. “Do not let anybody tell you we cannot win the nomination or win the general election. We are going to do both of those things.”
A win for the 74-year-old Sanders in the trio of western states is likely to inject momentum to his campaign as he seeks to dent Clinton’s lead in the race to their party’s nomination. Going into Saturday, Clinton had already amassed 1,711 delegates, including superdelegates, who are unelected by voters, compared with 952 for Sanders, according to a CNN count.
To win the Democratic nomination at the July convention in Philadelphia, 2,383 delegates are needed.
Despite his victories on Saturday, Sanders, who has drawn strong support from young voters with his populist message, still faces an uphill battle to overcome Clinton’s lead, especially as Democrats allocate delegates proportionally by state.
Sanders spent millions of US dollars on campaign advertising ahead of Saturday’s caucuses and visited Seattle on Friday, giving a rousing rendition of his standard stump speech in which he railed against police brutality, a too-low minimum wage, soaring student debt and other ills.
“Real change historically always takes place from the bottom on up when millions of people come together,” Sanders said to applause and cheers from the crowd in the city’s Safeco Field baseball stadium. “We need a political revolution.”
He repeated that same message on Saturday in Wisconsin — the next state to hold primaries on April 5 — and reiterated his vow to legalize marijuana.
Millennials and first-time voters have been flocking to Sanders’s message of economic equality, universal healthcare, and his call to reduce the influence of billionaires on the campaign finance system.
However, the delegate math still dramatically favors Clinton. According to RealClearPolitics poll averages, in the remaining states with the three largest delegate allocations — California, New York and Pennsylvania — Clinton leads Sanders by nine points, 34 points and 28 points respectively.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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