Bernie Sanders has scored a resounding victory in Nevada’s presidential caucuses.

His win on Saturday cements his status as the Democrats' national front-runner, though it's also escalating tensions over whether he’s too liberal to defeat President Trump.

Results finally hit 100% on Monday.  

The 78-year-old Vermont senator successfully rallied his loyal base and tapped into support from Nevada’s large Latino community as the Democratic contest moved for the first time into a state with a significant minority population.

The party's more-establishment-minded members have been unable so far to unite behind Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden or Amy Klobuchar, helping Sanders pull away.

Nevada is the most diverse state so far in the party's primary lineup.

Nevada's first-in-the-West caucuses tested the candidates' strength with non-white voters for the first time in 2020.

Questions lingered about Nevada Democrats' ability to report election results quickly as new concerns surfaced about foreign interference in the U.S. election. Saturday's caucuses were the first since technical glitches and human errors plagued Iowa's kickoff caucuses. 

The state party added to its responsibilities by offering early voting - something Iowa didn't attempt. 

Nevada State Democratic Party Chair William McCurdy II issued the following statement:

“I’m proud of our thousands of volunteers who worked so hard to make this caucus process run as smoothly as possible and inspired by the grassroots enthusiasm of the tens of thousands of voters who turned out to make their voices heard. Our state party team worked tirelessly and put in years of planning to prepare for this caucus, and we’re so grateful to the Nevadans who gave their time and energy to help us run our most transparent and accessible caucus ever. We accomplished so much together, and showcased to the nation what a diverse electorate actually looks like.

“With all of that said, I believe we need to start having a serious conversation ahead of next cycle about the limitations of the caucus process and the rules around it. If our goal is to bring as many Nevada Democrats as possible into the fold to select our presidential nominee, it’s time for our State Party and elected leaders to look at shifting to a primary process moving forward.”

Two of the four caucus precincts at a middle school the northern Nevada city of Gardnerville had trouble getting through on the phone hotline to report results.

Kimi Cole, the chair of the Douglas County Democrats who was the site lead at the school, said her precinct and another tried to call the hotline after their caucuses wrapped up early afternoon but instead of being put on hold they were met with a tone that seemed to indicate the number wasn’t working.

“I dialed two or three times, couldn’t get through. My friend dialed, couldn’t get through,” Cole said.

A third person at the caucus site was able to get through and report results right after, but Cole said she and the other precinct leader decided to use one of the Nevada Democratic Party’s backup methods by texting a photo of their caucus reporting worksheets.

Cole said the data was also transmitted by the iPad calculator, which seemed to run smoothly for everyone at that site.

2020 Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale released this statement: 

“Media reports of unstaffed caucus sites in Nevada just prove that the national Democrat Party is in chaos and incompetent. Even with that mess, there is no denying that Big Government Socialism dominated again as Bernie Sanders remained the leader of the leftist pack. We are another day closer to Election Day and another day closer to re-electing President Trump.”

Bernie Sanders was a popular candidate at the University of Nevada, Reno location, but Sanders' supporters weren't the only ones who came out. Right before the caucus started, volunteers used the opportunity to campaign for their candidates. "We have people from almost every campaign out here and we're just advertising the different parties that we are with, and all of the Nevada Dems are coming out to caucus if they haven't already early voted," says Grace Warner.

Warner says she feels like it's important for everyone who is a Democrat to come out to participate if they're not pleased with the current state of the country - and participating is a way to do that. "I have been in politics for a very long time and now it's my time to play a very distinctive role in not only shaping the party itself, but what I hope to see in the future," says Thomas Hassen.

"I'm extremely confident that things are going to go well today. We've had a tremendous amount of work moving into this session, our volunteers have been outstanding. We had four days of early caucusing which was great, I was on both ends of the state, probably visited a dozen or so early caucus sites. Volunteers are energized. People are encouraged to get out and participate in this caucus. We have had multiple training sessions in person, online, group sessions. So we are confident it's going to go very well. What happens here can only happen here. We're going to get this right," Governor Steve Sisolak said in an interview on CNN Saturday.

The Nevada State Democratic Party says more than 10,000 Nevadans registered to vote as Democrats to participate during the four-day early voting period. Over the course of four days of early voting, nearly 75,000 Nevadans turned out to participate in the caucus.

“With more than 10,000 Nevadans newly registering as Democrats during early voting, it’s clear that we are bringing a wave of new voters into our party and building a growing coalition who will mobilize for our nominee in November,” said Nevada State Democratic Party Chair William McCurdy II. “This is how we beat Donald Trump and elect Democrats up and down the ticket in 2020.”

“The most important goal behind our historic early voting period was bringing more Nevadans into the process, and these astounding numbers are proof that we succeeded,” said Nevada State Democratic Party Executive Director Alana Mounce. “We are now laser-focused on holding the most expansive and accessible Caucus Day yet, and we look forward to bringing even more Nevadans into our party and the caucus process today.”

At Sparks High School, those in line before the doors opened were able to quickly enter their voting location. "I'm pretty excited. I've never been to a caucus before. This is a new experience for me."

We found other first-time caucusers at Cold Springs Middle School. Officials say by 11:30 a.m., about 35 new Democrats registered to vote. "I had to come over top another desk because I was an independent but I switched just so I could be part of the caucus to a Democrat," says Michael Gencarelle of Cold Springs.

For those who have attended a caucus before, the shorter lines were not the only thing that is different from previous years. "There is not as much conflict, which I don't understand because there are so many people. There's been so much conflict put there in the debate."

Meanwhile, people showed up to caucus in about 40 different precincts at North Valleys High School. Bernie Sanders is the winner in that room, followed by Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg. And that includes early votes. "Good opportunity for people to come out and show their support for different candidates and express the reason why they're here," says Gabby Bartl of Reno.

Some voters in Lemmon Valley say they prefer the caucus format over a primary election. "It is so fun. It's wonderful. I mean, especially in this district here, our area, everyone is so kind and open and just having conversation with everybody. It's fun. It would be sad if we didn't have this," says Cynthia Rifi of Golden Valley.

 

 

(The Associated Press, NV Dems contributed to this report.)