Bernie Sanders has beaten Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s 2016 Utah Democratic presidential caucus by a huge margin
Sanders received 78 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 21 percent. The Vermont senator will receive 18 delegates, while the former secretary of state will take home 5.
Utah awards a total of 33 delegates in its Democratic caucus. Eleven delegates are distributed based on the total statewide vote and the remaining 22 are doled out on a proportional basis across Utah’s four congressional districts.
The result is a surprise blowout for Sanders. The most recent poll conducted in the state, conducted by pollster Dan Jones, showed Sanders leading Clinton by a margin of 52 to 44. A poll taken by Survey USA in January, saw Clinton ahead by 10 points.
Previous election previous election cycles have seen candidates largely ignoring Utah, this primary season has been different. All of the remaining candidates from both parties, save for Clinton, have made the state a stop on the campaign trail. In her stead, Clinton sent her daughter, Chelsea, on a fundraising trip earlier this month.
“People are watching what’s happening in Utah,” Jason Perry of the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics told Desert News. “We should take note of the responsibility we have as a state and we should show up to the caucuses.”
Tuesday’s votes follow a wave of bad news for Sanders, who lost all five primary held on March 15 to Clinton. “She creamed us in Mississippi and Louisiana and South Carolina,” Sanders told CBS last week. “As we head to the West Coast, which is probably the most progressive part of America, I think as you go forward you’re going to see us doing better and better.”
Utah Republicans, who voted for Sen. Ted Cruz by a wide margin, had the option this year of caucusing online, but the Democratic party couldn’t spare the expense and will require its voters to show in person. While this may increase turnout for the GOP, cybersecurity experts have worried that the online system creates new opportunities for hackers to steal votes.
Correction: Sanders will receive 18 delegates in Utah.
Photo via U.S. Senate/Flickr (Public Domain) | Remix via Max Fleishman