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43Democratic National Convention delegates (35 pledged, 8 unpledged) | ||||||||||||||||
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 Election results by county.
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The2016 Nevada Democratic presidential caucuses was held on Saturday February 20 in the U.S. state ofNevada, traditionally marking theDemocratic Party's third nominating contest in their series ofpresidential primaries ahead of the2016 presidential election. TheRepublican Party held itsSouth Carolina primary on the same day, while their ownNevada caucuses took place on February 23.
With all other candidates having dropped out of the race ahead of the Nevada caucuses, the two remaining candidates wereBernie Sanders andHillary Clinton.[1]
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Of the total number of 43 delegates the Nevada Democratic Party may send to the2016 Democratic National Convention, 35 are pledged and 8 are unpledged.
The delegate selection process is a system with three levels:
The state convention was held in May as the final stage of the delegate selection process. Supporters of Sanders believed that the convention rules, which had been largely the same for the previous 8 years, gave an unfair amount of power to the convention chair. The rules specifically lay out that all convention votes must be done by voice vote, and that only the convention chair can declare the winner or call for a more specific method of voting among the thousands of delegates. During the vote the convention chair, Roberta Lange accepted the "yeas" even though the "nays" were louder than the "yeas" in the room. Both preliminary and final delegate counts showed that Clinton supporters outnumbered Sanders supporters in the room, though many Sanders delegates had left after Lange's decision and did not stay to be counted in the final count. When Lange accepted the "yeas", some Sanders supporters confronted Lange and other members of the party's executive board on the main stage. The event was quickly shut down after that. Casino spokeswoman Jennifer Forkis said the event ran over its allotted time by about four hours, meaning security hired for the event would soon leave their shifts. "Without adequate security personnel, and in consultation with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and event organizers, a decision was made that it was in the best interest of everyone in attendance to end the event," Forkis said in a statement.[2] An additional 10 to 15 Las Vegas Metropolitan police officers had been deployed to the event, with some forming a protective barrier in front of the stage after the proceedings were declared closed by party officials.[3][4]
The Sanders campaign alleged that the leadership of the Democratic Party "used its power to prevent a fair and transparent process from taking place."[5]
On October 13, 2015, the Democratic Party's very first debate was held at theWynn Hotel inLas Vegas. Hosted byAnderson Cooper, it aired onCNN and was broadcast on radio byWestwood One. Participants were the candidatesHillary Clinton,Bernie Sanders,Jim Webb,Martin O'Malley, andLincoln Chafee. It was the first and only debate appearance of Chafee and Webb, who ended their campaigns on October 23 and October 20, respectively.
On February 18, MSNBC and Telemundo hosted a forum in Las Vegas.
Delegate count: 35 Pledged, 8UnpledgedWinner:
Hillary Clinton
Caucus date: February 20, 2016
| Poll source | Date | 1st | 2nd | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caucus results[6] | February 20, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 52.6% | Bernie Sanders 47.3% | Other 0.1% |
| Gravis Marketing[7] Margin of error: ± 4.0 | February 14–15, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 53% | Bernie Sanders 47% | |
| CNN/ORC[8] Margin of error: ± 6.0 | February 10–15, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 48% | Bernie Sanders 47% | Others / Undecided 6% |
| Washington Free Beacon/TPC Research[9] Margin of error: ± 2.9 | February 8–10, 2016 | Hillary Clinton 45% | Bernie Sanders 45% | Undecided 9% |
| Poll source | Date | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravis Marketing[10] Margin of error: ± 5% | December 23–27, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 50% | Bernie Sanders 27% | Martin O'Malley 1% | Unsure 16% |
| CNN/ORC[11] Margin of error: ± 6% | October 3–10, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 50% | Bernie Sanders 34% | Joe Biden 12% | |
| Gravis Marketing[12] Margin of error: ± 5% | July 12–13, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 55% | Bernie Sanders 18% | Elizabeth Warren 8% | Joe Biden 5%, Lincoln Chafee 1%, Jim Webb 1%, Martin O'Malley 0%, Unsure 12% |
| Gravis Marketing[13] Margin of error: ± 6% | March 27, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 61% | Elizabeth Warren 15% | Bernie Sanders 7% | Joe Biden 3%, Al Gore 3%, Martin O'Malley 1%, Jim Webb 0%, Unsure 10% |
| Gravis Marketing[14] Margin of error: ± 6% | February 21–22, 2015 | Hillary Clinton 58% | Elizabeth Warren 20% | Joe Biden 8% | Bernie Sanders 4%, Jim Webb 3%, Martin O'Malley 0%, Undecided 7% |
Primary date: February 20, 2016
County conventions: April 2, 2016
State convention: May 14, 2016
National delegates: 43
| Nevada Democratic caucuses, February 20, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | County delegates | Estimated delegates | |||
| Count | Percentage | Pledged | Unpledged | Total | |
| Hillary Clinton | 6,440 | 52.64% | 20 | 4 | 24 |
| Bernie Sanders | 5,785 | 47.29% | 15 | 1 | 16 |
| Uncommitted | 8 | 0.07% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Total | 12,233 | 100% | 35 | 8 | 43 |
| Source:[15] | |||||
| Nevada Democratic county conventions, April 2, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | State delegates | Estimated delegates | |||
| Count | Percentage | Pledged | Unpledged | Total | |
| Bernie Sanders | 2,124 | 55.23% | 17 | 1 | 18 |
| Hillary Clinton | 1,722 | 44.77% | 18 | 4 | 22 |
| Uncommitted | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Total | 100% | 35 | 8 | 43 | |
| Source:The Moderate Voice[16] | |||||
| Nevada Democratic state conventions, May 14, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | State delegates | Estimated delegates | |||
| Count | Percentage | Pledged | Unpledged | Total | |
| Hillary Clinton | 1,695 | 50.49% | 20 | 4 | 24 |
| Bernie Sanders | 1,662 | 49.51% | 15 | 1 | 16 |
| Uncommitted | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Total | 100% | 35 | 8 | 43 | |
| Source:Nevada Democrats[17] | |||||
| County | Clinton | Votes | Sanders | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carson City | 49.11% | 83 | 50.89% | 86 |
| Churchill | 50.00% | 46 | 50.00% | 46 |
| Clark | 54.82% | 4,889 | 45.14% | 4,026 |
| Douglas | 54.14% | 85 | 45.86% | 72 |
| Elko | 43.18% | 38 | 56.82% | 50 |
| Esmeralda | 31.82% | 7 | 68.18% | 15 |
| Eureka | 13.64% | 3 | 86.36% | 19 |
| Humboldt | 33.75% | 27 | 66.25% | 53 |
| Lander | 28.99% | 20 | 69.57% | 48 |
| Lincoln | 60.32% | 38 | 39.68% | 25 |
| Lyon | 47.62% | 80 | 52.38% | 88 |
| Mineral | 53.42% | 39 | 46.58% | 34 |
| Nye | 58.75% | 94 | 40.63% | 65 |
| Pershing | 47.76% | 32 | 49.25% | 33 |
| Storey | 47.95% | 35 | 52.05% | 38 |
| Washoe | 45.70% | 877 | 54.25% | 1,041 |
| White Pine | 50.54% | 47 | 49.46% | 46 |
| Total | 52.64% | 6,440 | 47.29% | 5,785 |
Source:[18]
Clinton won the popular vote handily in the Nevada caucus, after a rough start to the primary season. With a razor-thin victory inIowa and a crushing defeat inNew Hampshire, Clinton rebounded to a five-point-win in Nevada aided by late campaigning among casino workers. AsThe New York Times describes, "At a caucus at the famedCaesars Palace,blackjack dealers, pit bosses, cooks and housekeepers excitedly declared their support for the former secretary of state."[19]
Clinton had campaigned heavily in the state, airing an ad in which she comforted a youngLatina girl who was worried her parents would bedeported. Clinton's message appeared to resonate withHispanic andAfrican American voters, with Clinton winning by large margins in many diverse neighborhoods in populousClark County, especially in caucuses inLas Vegas.
