In a significant victory sure to rock the Democratic establishment, Bernie Sanders has been declared the winner of the Nevada caucuses.
Fox News called the race for Sanders very early Saturday afternoon, before 2:30pm Pacific Time. NBC called the race two hours later, at about 4:30pm.
With 22 percent of precincts reporting results, Sanders holds a commanding 15 percent lead over the field. Overall, Sanders won 34 percent of the popular vote. Joe Biden is in second place, with 19 percent of the vote.
Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg finished in third with just over 15 percent of the vote.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and businessman Tom Steyer follow with 12 percent and 9 percent of the vote respectively. All other candidates finished with single digit support.
Sanders currently has 1976 county convention delegates in his column, or 47 percent. Biden is in second place with 980 delegates, or 23 percent, giving Sanders a 24 percent delegate lead on the former vice president.
According to entrance polling, Sanders’ support cut across demographic lines, with the Vermont Senator winning leading in nearly every group.
Sanders won 30 percent support among white voters, and 44 percent among non-white voters. He won 68 percent of voters aged 17 to 29, while also coming first among voters aged 45 and older.
The Vermont Senator came first both with Democrats, winning 32 percent support, and independent voters, where he dominated with 50 percent of the vote.
Despite a negative campaign from the powerful culinary union in the state against Sanders, he still came first among union voters, with 36 percent support.
While Sanders won a majority of voters who described themselves as very liberal, he also came first with voters who described themselves as moderate or conservative.
After winning the popular vote in the first three states and seizing the lead in every national poll released since the New Hampshire primary, Bernie Sanders is now the clear front runner for the Democratic nomination.
