Clinton clinches Nevada
Presidential election in Nevada, 2016
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 Date: November 8, 2016 |
Winner: Donald Trump (R) Hillary Clinton (D) • Jill Stein (G) • Gary Johnson (L) • Vice presidential candidates |
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This page was current as of the 2016 election.
February 19, 2016
It was a lot closer than observers thought it would be a month ago, but former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pulled out a win in the Nevada Democratic Caucuses, besting Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 52.7 percent to 47.2 percent, with more than 95 percent of the precincts reporting.
Clinton’s victory in the Silver State was built on her strong showing in Clark County, home to Las Vegas, which accounts for roughly 70 percent of the state delegate equivalents awarded by the Nevada Democratic caucus system. There she beat Sanders by almost 10 percentage points. Sanders handily won the next most populous county, Washoe, home to Reno. Overall, Sanders won nine counties, Clinton won five, and two were tied. But Clark dominates the caucuses and Clinton captured the state when she won handily there.
Generational politics continued to drive the Democratic nominating contest in Nevada. As in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Sanders dominated the youth vote while Clinton carried older voters by a wide margin. According to the television network entrance poll, the survey of a representative sample of voters as they entered their precinct caucuses, Sanders carried those aged 17-to-29, by a margin of nearly seven-to-one. Clinton won voters 65 years and older by a margin of roughly three-to-one.
Overall, the entrance poll showed Sanders sweeping voters under 45, and Clinton carrying voters 45 years and older by almost the same margin. But, voters in that older cohort made up some 63 percent of the caucus goers, while the under-45 group by comprised only about 37 percent of the Nevada caucus electorate.
Age also may have contributed to Sanders very competitive showing among Latino voters in the caucuses. His success with Latinos appears to have been driven by his strong showing among younger Latinos under-45 years of age. But Nevada is also a state with one of the youngest Latino populations in the nation. It’s unclear whether Sanders will be as successful among Latinos who vote in upcoming primaries in states like Texas and Florida, which have older Latino populations. Moreover, Clinton won African-American voters by a margin of more than three-to-one. Several Southern states with nominating contests on March 1 have substantial numbers of African-American voters who participate in Democratic primaries. That will give Clinton a significant advantage in those states, as well as South Carolina, which holds its Democratic presidential primary on Feb. 27.
| Color Key |
|---|
| Winning candidate |
| Bernie Sanders |
| Hillary Clinton |
James A. Barnes is a senior writer for Ballotpedia and co-author of the 2016 edition of the Almanac of American Politics. He is a member of the CNN Decision Desk and will be helping to project the Democratic and Republican winners throughout the election cycle.
See also
- Presidential election in Nevada, 2016
- Presidential Nominating Index: Clinton rules, but Sanders also rising
- Presidential candidates, 2016
- Presidential debates (2015-2016)
- Presidential election, 2016/Polls
- 2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards
- Presidential election, 2016/Straw polls
