"As of today, we have now won 16 primaries and caucuses all over this country, and with your help we're going to win here in West Virginia," Sanders told a screaming crowd in Huntington, W.Va., Tuesday evening.

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But Sanders didn't concede an inch as he addressed his West Virginia rally while primary returns were rolling in across five Atlantic states.

Sanders also blamed the process, criticizing the "closed" nature of Democratic primaries, such as New York, where voters needed to be registered as Democrats in October to be eligible to vote in the April 19 primary. Clinton beats Sanders among loyal Democrats and won New York by double digits.

Sanders beats Clinton among independents, and at his rally Tuesday night he asked Democratic superdelegates to remember the general election is not a closed primary. He claimed he would perform better than Clinton among a wider electorate.

"That is a point that I hope delegates to the Democratic [National C]onvention fully understand," Sanders said. "In a general election, everyone — Democrat, independent, Republican — has the right to vote."