The first states for the primaries have not been an easy ride for Bernie Sanders’s supporters. The Vermont senator has been running close in a number of states, but following Clinton’s overwhelming victory in the primaries located within the southern voting bloc, some in the media and heading to the ballot boxes were beginning to count Senator Sanders out.
However, it looks like his campaign is far, far from over.
While the southern states heavily favored Clinton and gave her votes as high as 71 percent of the population, this switch towards the west coast has already given two major victories for Sanders. And not just any wins, but large ones, as well.
While Secretary Clinton managed to score Arizona, Senator Sanders slipped in and took Utah. According to U.S. Uncut, the Utah caucuses were packed with voters, so high that there had been word that some locations were running out of ballots because of the unprecedented voter turnout. Despite the state being one of the most conservative in the Union, recently passing a bill to announce a public health crisis over the consumption of pornography, the democratic voters swung for the much more liberal candidate, with almost 80% of votes going in his favor.
And it wasn’t the only state reporting in for the candidate. Senator Sanders also won Idaho, by another impressive margin. 78% of the votes went to him.
These states alone are not enough to clinch the nomination, nor are they swing states offering a huge number of delegates. However, in as close a race as this is turning out to be, every delegate pledged to a candidate matters. And more importantly, these two wins may show the voters who were on the fence that this former Independent isn’t out of the race just yet.
Enough to win? No. Enough to begin a winning streak? It’s more than possible.
Featured image provided by Gage Skidmore, available under a Creative Commons License.
