Bernie Sanders has continued his string of victories in the Democratic nominating contest, winning the Nevada caucus Saturday.
Major media outlets called the caucus for the independent U.S. senator from Vermont with 4 percent of precincts reporting late Saturday afternoon. He had 54.1 percent of the vote at that time, based on county convention delegates, which will determine how many pledged delegates a candidate receives toward the national nomination.
Former Vice President Joe Biden had 17.8 percent, The New York Times reports; U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts 10.1 percent; former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg 8.8 percent; businessman Tom Steyer 6.4 percent; and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar 2.7 percent.
Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, won the popular vote in both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. Buttigieg finished second in the popular vote in both states but won the most pledged delegates in Iowa.
Sanders, who was holding a rally in Texas, sent out a celebratory tweet.
He told the Texas crowd that his campaign had motivated a "multigenerational, multiracial" movement that will propel him to the nomination and the White House. Americans are "sick and tired of a corrupt administration" and "a president who is undermining American democracy ... and who has apparently never read the Constitution." Sanders pledged to unite Americans of all races, religions, and sexual orientations in a fight for economic, social, and environmental justice.
Buttigieg, meanwhile, spoke to supporters in Las Vegas. He congratulated Sanders but warned that the senator believes in an "inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats." Dems should take a "sober look" at what his nomination would mean in the effort to defeat Donald Trump. Sanders favors sweeping reforms, such as a universal, government-run health care plan, while Buttigieg has endorsed more moderate steps.
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