Biden sails to victory in the Nevada primaries as he moves toward nomination
President Biden won the Democratic presidential primary in Nevada on Tuesday, marking the second time his party waged a recognized nominating contest against symbolic opposition.
The Associated Press declared Mr. Biden the winner shortly after polls closed in Nevada, giving him his second easy victory in four days after taking 96 percent of the vote in South Carolina's primary on Saturday.
“I want to thank the voters of Nevada for sending me and Kamala Harris to the White House four years ago, and for putting us one step further on that same path tonight,” Biden said in a statement late Tuesday evening .
As in South Carolina, Biden was the only Democratic candidate to run a visible campaign in the state. He visited Las Vegas on Sunday, a stop that doubled as an effort to get out the vote in the primaries and kick off the general election campaign in a state expected to be one of the most competitive battlegrounds in the country.
Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, one of Biden's main challengers, was not on the ballot because he entered the race after Nevada's deadline for entry. Mr. Phillips won 20 percent of the vote in New Hampshire, which Mr. Biden won as a write-in candidate, and then came third behind self-help author Marianne Williamson in South Carolina. Mr. Phillips has said he will focus his campaign on Michigan, where the Democratic primary will be held on February 27.
Although Nevada's primaries have not been competitive, the state's general elections are typically very close. Mr. Biden, who narrowly won the state in 2020, will again need overwhelming support from the state's large concentration of Hispanic voters, many of whom work in Las Vegas' entertainment and hospitality industries. It was no coincidence that Mr. Biden on Monday visited unionized casino and hotel workers who had just completed contract negotiations.
“From union workers in Las Vegas to teachers in Reno, Nevadans across the Silver State set the stage to defeat Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans again in November,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement. He added that the state's primary was “emblematic of Democrats' commitment to uplift voters of color, engage the diverse coalitions that form the foundation of the Democratic Party, and make it easier for everyone to cast their vote.” let it be heard.”
Biden's runaway victory in Nevada came in the state's first presidential primary since it rose near the top of the nomination calendar in 2008. Nevada has held Democratic caucuses in recent cycles — in-person meetings where delegates could be rewarded by a drawing of cards in the event of a tie.
After Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont won the 2020 Nevada caucuses — and Biden finished a distant second — former Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, a Democrat who was more responsible than anyone for Nevada's early influence on presidential nominations, up to the state's caucus system. replaced by a statewide primary. The following year, Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada, a Democrat, decided signed laws establishing a presidential primary and a statewide vote-by-mail system.
Nevada's new voting system has kept it at the top of the Democratic National Committee's list of presidential candidates. Iowa, which continues to host presidential caucuses, was downgraded when the party made South Carolina the nation's new first-place state.