CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) kept his presidential nomination hopes alive with a win in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in West Virginia.
MetroNews was projecting Sanders would win the Mountain State over former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton based on unofficial results.
In the latest MetroNews West Virginia Poll conducted from Apr. 22 – May 2, Sanders maintained a small lead over Clinton, 47 percent to 43 percent, with 11 percent of likely Democratic voters remained undecided in results released last Friday.
Sanders’ strength was among people between the ages of 18 and 34.
“The key, of course, for Sanders is a high turnout with young voters, while Clinton’s support is generally older, those with a college degree or post-graduate degree and upper income Democrats,” Repass said.
Six candidates were on West Virginia’s Democratic presidential ballot.
In addition to Clinton and Sanders, Rocky de la Fuente, a San Diego businessman, and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, the ballot also included Keith Judd, the Texas felon who put up solid numbers in the 2012 Democratic primary against President Barack Obama, and Paul Farrell, a Huntington attorney.
“I’m frustrated with our national party moving to the left and so I decided to place my name on the ballot,” Farrell previously said.
Clinton easily won West Virginia during the May 2008 Democrat primary.
That year, she finished with nearly 67 percent of the vote, followed by then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) at 26 percent and former U.S. Senator John Edwards (D-North Carolina) at seven percent.
Eight years later, she was booed during a campaign stop in Mingo County.
Clinton was also part of a substance abuse forum at the University of Charleston.
The West Virginia campaign stops for Sanders included Huntington, Kimball, South Charleston and Morgantown.
It will take 2,383 delegates to win the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination and, prior to Mountain State’s primary, 1,083 delegates were still available.
Before West Virginia, Clinton had secured 1,705 pledged delegates based on primary results and 523 superdelegates who can support any candidate, while Sanders’ delegate count added up to 1,415 pledged delegates and 39 superdelegates.
A total of 36 delegates will represent West Virginia during the Democratic National Convention from July 25 – July 28 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For an explanation of how those delegates are allocated, click here.