Sanders aims to cement front-runner status with Nevada vote

Bloomberg

Bernie Sanders was expected to cement his front-runner status on Saturday as Nevada’s diverse electorate weighs in on the 2020 Democratic presidential field, but the day could deal a harsh blow to several other candidates limping towards Super Tuesday.
Sanders holds a double-digit lead in the RealClearPolitics average of polls ahead of the vote, with Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren all bunched up fighting for a distant second.
Buttigieg is the only other Democrat who has won an early contest, with a razor-thin victory in Iowa. Biden and Warren have finished far back in the pack in the first two votes, and anything less than second place would make it hard for them to springboard into the 14 races on March 3.
Warren hopes her strong debate performance in Las Vegas, by far her best of the campaign, will make some voters give her a second look. Her main target that night, Michael Bloomberg, whose unprecedented spending has made him a wild card in the 2020 primaries, is not contesting Nevada.
Nevada’s caucus comes on the heels of the Iowa caucus debacle and while party officials have taken pains to avoid a
repeat, they cannot promise timely results.
Sanders’ team hailed its organisation before the vote, announcing that they had “knocked on more than 500,000 doors spanning all 17 Nevada counties.”
“Our goal from day one has been to expand the electorate, and we are so proud to see
so many first time caucus
goers participate during early voting,” Sanders’ Nevada State Director Sarah Michelsen said in a statement.
This year, Nevada allowed for early voting in which people could rank their top three candidates, with the option of ranking up to five. About 77,000 Nevadans filled out ballots early, which suggests the state can expect a very high turnout on Saturday. The number of early voters was almost as many as the total who caucused in 2016, when 84,000 people came out support a candidate. And the majority of early voters were caucusing for the first time.
At stake are 36 pledged delegates to the national convention of the 1,991 needed to secure the party’s nomination.
More important than delegates, each win gives candidates momentum going into later contests, including Super Tuesday on March 3.
But it is no sure bet that Sanders will win.
Chris Miller, the former chairman of the Clark County Democratic Party who is backing Buttigieg, said it’s still anyone’s game.
“Honest to God I think it’s a toss-up,” Miller said. “Bernie has an advantage but I think Biden will do well here. If he doesn’t, he’s done.” Referring to the early voting, he added, “The turnout numbers were huge, no one expected it to be that high, no one knows what’s going to happen.”
One challenge for Sanders is his complicated relationship with organised labour in Nevada, where unions are particularly influential. The Culinary Workers Union, the state’s largest with 60,000 members, released a flier denouncing Medicare for All plans like the one advocated by Sanders. However, the union declined to endorse a candidate, which was seen as a blow to Biden, who its leadership called a “friend.”
Warren has seen a surge in fundraising after a spirited showing at the debate, during and after which she raised
$2.8 million, according to her campaign. Whether that money translates into votes remains to be seen.