Bernie Sanders Wins 41 Delegates In Colorado, Hillary Clinton Takes 25
As Colorado suffers in the throes of a mid-April snowstorm, the state’s Democratic convention soldiered on in Loveland. According to the Denver Post, Sanders’ Colorado victory means he will have enough delegates to prevail against the state’s 12 superdelegates, most of whom support Clinton.
Prior to Saturday’s state convention, congressional districts around Colorado held their own contests. Several congressional districts had meetings Friday night. After the meetings, his total was 26 to Hillary’s 17. After Saturday’s convention, Sanders’ total delegate count soared to 41. Clinton ended up with 25 national delegates.
And with Colorado’s final delegate count in favor of Bernie Sanders, this means that even without a single superdelegate vote, he can still finish ahead of Clinton in the state’s delegation at the national convention in July.
On Friday evening, it wasn’t easy for delegates to get to their destinations, as some mountain passes were closed early due to heavy snow. This meant some delegates coming through mountainous areas couldn’t participate in congressional district meetings.
Bernie backers cheer as Rep. Joe Salazar revs up supporter. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/MRbEiQyS6q
— Vic Vela (@VicVela1) April 16, 2016
Fortunately, enough delegates made the congressional district meetings Friday night and the state convention in Denver on Saturday to push Sanders ahead.
Several weeks ago, the Colorado Democratic Party admitted that it had made a mistake in the delegate count. It informed the Clinton campaign of the mistake, which gave Sanders one more delegate. The party never informed the Sanders campaign of the mistake, and only discovered what had happened when the Denver Post reported it.
Originally, delegates for Congressional District 1 had been split evenly between the two candidates, 4-4. With the mistake rectified, though, Bernie was awarded five and Hillary won three. The Denver Post reports that the party realized the mistake just one week after the March 1 caucuses, but never corrected the public record.
The win is reassuring in the sense that it shows that Sanders can win the nomination, regardless of what some Democratic party officials and the mainstream media report.
NEWS: Coming into convention, projections showed Bernie with a 39-27 lead over Clinton. Sanders officially takes 41 delegates. #copolitics
— Vic Vela (@VicVela1) April 16, 2016
Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, who is a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton, said that he was happy with the turnout despite the foul weather conditions.
“I was pleased with it, given the fact that a majority of our voters showed up in the snow, and they tend to be a little older and that means they fought through the snow.”
With Colorado out of the way, Clinton is up by only 206 delegates. The total delegates each candidate has won is Clinton-1,305 and Sanders-1,099. The Colorado totals on FiveThirtyEight still show Sanders with 39 delegates in Colorado, but with Saturday’s win that should be corrected to reflect the actual delegate count.
NEW: @BernieSanders wins Colorado with 41 delegates. Even with superdelegates, @HillaryClinton will come up short. #copolitics
— John Frank (@ByJohnFrank) April 16, 2016
Earlier in the week, Sanders drew more than 27,000 people to his rally in Washington Square Park, although some estimate attendance was higher. His performance at the Brooklyn debate was well received by supporters and pundits alike. He received a standing ovation at the end of his closing statement. And after the debate ended, he flew to the Vatican to give a 10-minute speech on the need for a moral economy, criticizing unfettered corporate greed.
New York’s primary is on Tuesday, April 19, and one of the state’s largest voting blocks will not be permitted to vote. New York Independents who did not change party affiliation by last October will not be allowed to participate in the primary on Tuesday. Perhaps because of this, the race is skewed heavily in favor of Clinton. Election forecaster FiveThirtyEight predicts a 99 percent chance of Clinton winning New York with approximately 57.8 percent of the vote.
This prediction is based on 17 polls taken of likely registered voters in the state, and Sanders has overcome such predictions in the past.
Despite this, winning more delegates at the Colorado state convention could create a more favorable environment for Sanders leading up to New York and the upcoming states that vote next week. For both candidates, New York is a must-win. And no matter what weather may come, people are expected to come out in droves to vote.
[Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images]
