Feb. 22, 2020, 9:34 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 9:34 p.m. ET By Bloomberg campaign warns (again) that Sanders is building an unstoppable lead. Image Mr. Bloomberg at a campaign rally in Salt Lake City on Thursday. Credit... Kim Raff for The New York Times Michael R. Bloomberg was not on the ballot in Nevada. But his campaign was quick to weigh in on the victory of Bernie Sanders, saying it would spell doom for the Democratic Party in November. In a statement, Mr. Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, blamed a “fragmented field” of candidates for putting the Vermont senator on the path to the nomination. Implicit within those words was what appeared to be a warning shot to the other Democrats who remain in the race but are struggling to break through as the Sanders alternative: Drop out or Mr. Sanders will win. “This is a candidate who just declared war on the so-called ‘Democratic Establishment,’” Mr. Sheekey added. “We are going to need Independents AND Republicans to defeat Trump — attacking your own party is no way to get started.”

Advertisement Continue reading the main story

Feb. 22, 2020, 9:12 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 9:12 p.m. ET By Jennifer Medina and What the results in Nevada could mean for Bernie Sanders in California. LAS VEGAS — They showed up to Desert Pines High School in Tío Bernie T-shirts to caucus on Saturday morning, motivated by the idea of free college tuition, “Medicare for All” and the man making those promises: a 78-year-old white senator from Vermont. For dozens of mostly working-class Latinos, Bernie Sanders seemed like one of their own, a child of immigrants who understands what it means to be seen as a perpetual outsider. For at least one day, in one state, the long-promised political revolution of Mr. Sanders came to vivid life, a multiracial coalition of immigrants, college students, Latina mothers, younger black voters, white liberals and even some moderates who embraced his idea of radical change and lifted him to victory in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday. By harnessing such a broad cross-section of voters, Mr. Sanders offered a preview of the path that he hopes to take to the Democratic presidential nomination: uniting an array of voting blocs in racially diverse states in the West and the South and in economically strapped parts of the Midwest and the Southwest, all behind the message of social and economic justice that he has preached for years. His advisers argue that he has a singular ability to energize voters who have felt secondary in the Democratic Party, like Latinos and younger people, and that Nevada proved as much — and could set the stage for bigger performances, in primaries like California’s on March 3, especially if the field of moderate candidates continues to remain crowded and divided. Read more

Feb. 22, 2020, 9:02 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 9:02 p.m. ET By Sanders declares victory in San Antonio. Video The Vermont senator spoke to supporters in San Antonio as the Nevada caucus results were released. Credit Credit... Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times SAN ANTONIO — As a crowd of hundreds screamed and broke out into cheers of his name, Bernie Sanders declared victory in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday night at a dance hall in San Antonio, delivering his familiar speech with powerful new resonance. “In Nevada we have just put together a multi-generational, multiracial coalition, which is going to not only win in Nevada, it is going to sweep this country,” he said. His remarks hit all of his usual marks, vowing to create a country that “works for the working people of this country.” In forceful terms, he drew a contrast to President Trump, who gloated about Mr. Sanders’s victory online in real time. “Now Trump and his friends think they are going to win this election,” Mr. Sanders said, to loud boos from the crowd. “They think they are going to win this election by dividing our people up based on the color of their skin or where they were born or their religion or their sexual orientation. We are going to win because we are doing exactly the opposite — we’re bringing our people together.” Mr. Sanders left Nevada early on Saturday morning for a weekend swing through Texas. Earlier in the day, he held a rally in El Paso. He will hold two more rallies, in Houston and Austin on Sunday before heading to South Carolina. The primary in South Carolina will take place in one week. In his victory speech, Mr. Sanders repeatedly emphasized his ability to bring together a broad spectrum of Americans, something critics had doubted he would be able to do. In contrast to his usual speeches, he did not rail against the Democratic establishment but instead projected unity. “We are bringing our people together, black and white and Latino, Native American, Asian-American. Gay and straight. We are bringing our people together around an agenda that works for the working people of this country, not the 1 percent,” he said. He has said those same words countless times in speeches across the country. But this time, CNN carried them live — captured on the large screen above the stage on which Mr. Sanders spoke. Read more

Feb. 22, 2020, 8:49 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 8:49 p.m. ET By Sanders’s win is a win for grass-roots organizing, too. LAS VEGAS — Bernie Sanders’s win in Nevada was no doubt thanks largely to his efforts to galvanize immigrants and people of color in Nevada. He had the help of grassroots organizations like Make the Road Action in Nevada, which knocked on roughly 10,000 doors and made 10,000 calls to voters, the group said in a statement. On the first day of early voting, Make the Road also led a march of 1,300 people with Mr. Sanders to a poll site in East Las Vegas. “I organized my community to vote for Bernie Sanders because our community needs bold leadership to ensure citizenship for all, affordable housing for all, and Medicare for all,” Angelica Romero, a member of Make the Road Action, said in a statement. Mr. Sanders’s win in Nevada speaks not only to his organizing efforts, but of activists making it a point to harness the power of the Latino vote. Read more here.

Advertisement Continue reading the main story

Feb. 22, 2020, 8:31 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 8:31 p.m. ET By Buttigieg attacks Sanders in caucus-night speech. Image Pete Buttigieg spoke in Las Vegas. Credit... Eric Thayer/Reuters LAS VEGAS — Pete Buttigieg, whose campaign is claiming a second-place finish despite trailing several candidates in early results, delivered a fierce argument against nominating Bernie Sanders, who won the caucuses, in his remarks to supporters on Saturday. “Before we rush to nominate Senator Sanders as our one shot to take on this president, let’s take a sober look at the consequences,” Mr. Buttigieg said. “Senator Sanders believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans.” As he has been doing for months, Mr. Buttigieg once again attacked Mr. Sanders’s signature health care proposal and said the Vermonter’s brand of socialism won’t be accepted across the country. “Senator Sanders sees capitalism as the root of all evil,” Mr. Buttigieg said. “He’d go beyond reform and reorder the economy in ways most Democrats, let alone most Americans, don’t support.” The issue for Mr. Buttigieg is he hasn’t yet explained to Democrats why he should be the alternative to Mr. Sanders. Voters of color remain cool to his rise in Democratic politics — and no Democrat can win the party’s presidential nomination without strong support from black and Latino voters. Still, Mr. Buttigieg said he, not Mr. Sanders or others, was the only one who could build a coalition large enough to defeat President Trump. “We can prioritize either ideological purity or inclusive victory,” he said. “We can either call people names online or we can call them into our movement. We can either tighten a narrow and hardcore base or open the tent to a new, broad, big-hearted American coalition.” Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, who ran a failed campaign for the Democratic nomination and who has endorsed Mr. Sanders, criticized Mr. Buttigieg’s speech on Twitter. “Try to not be so smug when you just got your ass kicked,” Mr. de Blasio said. .@PeteButtigieg, you clearly don’t understand the movement @BernieSanders has built. It reflects the true values + hope of working people in America. They simply want a country that puts working people first. Your critique tonight speaks for the American elite, not the majority — Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) February 23, 2020 And hey @PeteButtigieg, try to not be so smug when you just got your ass kicked. You know how we form a winning coalition to beat Trump? With a true multi-racial coalition of working Americans: something @BernieSanders has proven he can do + you haven’t. Dude, show some humility — Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) February 23, 2020 Read more

Feb. 22, 2020, 8:14 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 8:14 p.m. ET By Trump campaign gloats over Sanders’s victory. In Bernie Sanders’s victory in Nevada, the Democratic Party has a front-runner and President Trump has gotten closer to facing the adversary he always wanted. Mr. Trump’s campaign wasted no time attacking Mr. Sanders and celebrating his rise. In a statement issued before The Associated Press had called the race, Brad Parscale, the Trump campaign manager, said the Nevada results were an unmistakable sign that “big government socialism dominated again.” “We are another day closer to Election Day and another day closer to re-electing President Trump,” Mr. Parscale said. The Trump campaign and the Republican Party are betting that their strongest case for the president’s re-election will be made against someone they can attack as a socialist. This is not a new or novel approach for Republicans, who have long tried to tie the Democrats to radical, leftist ideology. Read more

Advertisement Continue reading the main story

Feb. 22, 2020, 7:34 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 7:34 p.m. ET By Joe Biden is in a good mood in Las Vegas. Image Mr. Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, took the stage for a rally at IBEW Local 357 in Las Vegas. Credit... Erin Schaff/The New York Times Joseph R. Biden Jr. took the stage at an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union Hall in Las Vegas for his caucus-night speech. He did not win Nevada, but he told his supporters: “Y’all did it for me. Y’all did it. Now we’re going on to South Carolina and winning and then we’re going to take this back.” “Comeback kid!” an audience member shouted as Mr. Biden, 77, launched into his remarks. Mr. Biden’s outcome in the state was far from assured as he began to speak, with only about four percent of the results reported, but his caucus night event had a party-like atmosphere, and Mr. Biden was in a punchy mood, dishing out a series of barely veiled swipes at Bernie Sanders in particular, as well as at Michael R. Bloomberg. “I ain’t a socialist,” he said. “I ain’t a plutocrat. I’m a Democrat. And proud of it!” He also obliquely jabbed Mr. Sanders for reportedly considering a primary challenge to President Barack Obama ahead of the 2012 election. “I was proud to have, and run with, Barack Obama,” he said. “I promise you, I wasn’t talking about running a Democratic primary against him in 2012.” And he referenced indications that Russia has sought to interfere in the election on behalf of both Mr. Trump and Mr. Sanders. But he also said that it was time to “unite the party” and that “we have to just keep moving." “The press is ready to declare people dead quickly,” he said. “But we’re alive and we’re coming back and we’re going to win.” Mr. Biden heads next to South Carolina, a state his campaign has suggested he must win to remain in the race. It was long considered his firewall, but he has increasingly faced competition there, especially following fourth- and fifth-place showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. Read more

Feb. 22, 2020, 7:31 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 7:31 p.m. ET By This is how caucus leaders are reporting results. Image Loretta Kuliawat, a caucus worker, compared the caucus calculator on an iPad to the handwritten math, at Johnson Lane Volunteer Fire Department in Minden, Nev. Credit... Max Whittaker for The New York Times Why has it taken awhile to report the results of Nevada’s caucuses? In a nutshell, the state Democratic Party is tabulating and releasing more data this year than ever before to meet demands for transparency. The party is using a hotline that the leader of each precinct — nearly 2,100 statewide — must call to report results. According to one caucus leader in Clark County, this is how those calls proceed: The leader calls in, provides a precinct number and precinct-specific password, and reports the total number of caucus participants. The leader then reports the number of first-alignment votes for each of the 11 candidates on the ballot (some of whom have dropped out of the race) and “Uncommitted,” in alphabetical order. The party operator says, “First alignment, Michael Bennet, how many people?” The caucus leader says “Zero.” The operator replies, “Confirm zero for Michael Bennet.” “Yes,” says the precinct leader. The call-and-response is repeated for all 12 choices, through four categories: first alignment, second alignment, viability and number of delegates earned. “Very step-by-step,” the precinct leader said. Read more

Feb. 22, 2020, 7:22 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 7:22 p.m. ET By Amy Klobuchar, currently in sixth place, says she’s ‘exceeded expectations.’ MINNEAPOLIS — Amy Klobuchar addressed about 150 supporters crammed into her campaign headquarters here. Despite the fact that the early results out of Nevada showed her in sixth place, she tried to claim momentum coming out of the caucuses. “As usual, I think we have exceeded expectations,” she said. She quickly pointed to why she had returned home to Minnesota on caucus night. “Guess what one of the Super Tuesday states is?” she asked the crowd, rhetorically. She added: “I went and voted today, and I was actually amazed at all of the people there.” Ms. Klobuchar also boasted of being attacked by President Trump. “By the way, for the first time ever, he mentioned me at a rally,” she said. “You know I’ve arrived now. You know they must be worried.” Read more

Advertisement Continue reading the main story

Feb. 22, 2020, 7:12 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 7:12 p.m. ET By What’s next for Joe Biden? A strong second-place showing for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden in Nevada would help inject new energy into his flagging campaign and stave off calls to drop out as he heads into a critical phase for his candidacy. A fourth-place finish in Iowa and a fifth-place finish in New Hampshire undercut the central premise of the Biden campaign: That he was the most durable, electable Democrat to run against President Trump. Once a runaway favorite to win in the South Carolina primary next weekend, Mr. Biden has slipped badly in the polls there. Further complicating his path are Pete Buttigieg and Michael R. Bloomberg, two rivals competing for the same moderate and independent voters as he is. Seeing Mr. Biden as a less-safe choice than they once envisioned, some voters have started to balk.

Feb. 22, 2020, 7:06 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 7:06 p.m. ET By Nevada Democrats add phone lines for results reporting. Image Phil Sobutka, a precinct chair, tried to call in results after caucusing ended at Coronado High School in Henderson. Credit... Bridget Bennett for The New York Times LAS VEGAS — After precinct leaders trying to report results reached repeated busy signals and jammed phone lines, the Nevada Democratic Party added new phone numbers for volunteers to call. Ruben Murillo, a Henderson volunteer, said that after 15 minutes of not being able to reach an operator, he received a text message from the state party with additional phone numbers to call to report results. Molly Forgey, a state party spokeswoman, said Nevada Democrats had “provided expanded capacity for the hotline to accommodate the influx of calls from precinct chairs.”

Feb. 22, 2020, 6:47 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 6:47 p.m. ET By Nevada Democratic Party says more results are expected soon. LAS VEGAS — The Nevada Democratic Party said it expects to have more results from its presidential caucuses soon. “Caucuses are running smoothly, results are coming in, and we’ll have them up soon,” said Molly Forgey, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Democratic Party. “We’ve been prepared all along for a high influx of results as caucuses wrap up, and we’re working diligently to accommodate and continue processing the high volume of incoming results from precinct chairs.” With some precinct leaders unable to reach the Nevada Democrats’ telephone hotline to report caucus results, the state party in the last hour has added phone lines. Ruben Murillo, a precinct chair at Coronado High School in suburban Henderson, said he spent 15 minutes trying to report his results and getting a busy signal before he was finally able to get through to an operator. Officials from the state party and the Democratic National Committee are working from a headquarters at the convention center at the Rio Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. At 3:30 p.m. local time the state party launched its official results website, nevadacaucusresults.com, which is slowly adding more results. Read more

Advertisement Continue reading the main story

Feb. 22, 2020, 6:26 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 6:26 p.m. ET By How a six-year strike in the 1990s relates to the conflict over ‘Medicare for All’ in Nevada. Image The February 1992 issue of Catering Industry Employee features a walk from Las Vegas to Los Angeles during the six-year strike of Frontier Hotel workers. Credit... Bridget Bennett for The New York Times LAS VEGAS — They each remember that moment, just after dawn on a September day in 1991, when they walked out of the Frontier Hotel and Casino. There was music and singing — “Solidarity forever,” went the song. That first day, the atmosphere was more like a celebration than a work protest. But the strike would go on to last six years, four months and 10 days — one of the longest labor disputes in American history. There were fights along the picket line, with tourists throwing water and food at the strikers, who were more than willing to fight back. There were dozens of arrests. So much time went by that 107 babies were born to pickets and 17 people died during the strike. They were fighting for wages, job security, pensions — and health care. In many ways those are the same key issues in the presidential campaign that comes on Saturday to Nevada, where health care has taken center stage in the contest, with Bernie Sanders forcefully pushing for a “Medicare for All” plan that would effectively eliminate private health care insurance. And in Las Vegas, talking about health care means talking about the Culinary Workers Union, the largest and most powerful union in the state. The roughly 60,000 members of the union’s Local 226 rarely pay out of pocket for routine medical care. They can undergo surgery without receiving a hefty surprise bill months later. They can visit the same one-stop medical clinic for urgent care, vision, dental and the pharmacy. The clinic was a regular stop for many of the 2020 candidates. So one way to understand why the leadership of the Culinary Union is fighting so hard against Medicare-for-all proposals is to look back to the 1990s. Read more below. Read more

Feb. 22, 2020, 6:02 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 6:02 p.m. ET By Sanders, in Texas, urges ‘love and compassion.’ Image Bernie Sanders and his wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders, at a campaign rally in El Paso. Credit... Joel Angel Juarez for The New York Times EL PASO — A buoyant Bernie Sanders made no reference to the Nevada caucuses during his rally in El Paso on Saturday, even as early results showed him on the path to victory. Instead, he focused much of his remarks on his familiar policy proposals like “Medicare for All.” More than usual, he addressed his remarks to teachers and nurses, thanking them multiple times. After briefly addressing an overflow crowd outside, Mr. Sanders took the stage to raucous cheers and chants of his name. As he often does, he then laced into President Trump, calling him a liar, sexist, racist and a religious bigot. “We have news for Trump,” he said. “Love and compassion and bringing people together is a lot more powerful than divisiveness.” As some of his rivals stayed behind in Nevada, Mr. Sanders was riding a wave of momentum into Super Tuesday states. After landing in El Paso around noon — two hours before the rally was set to begin — he did some interviews with local press and went for his daily walk, according to an aide. He also told the crowd that he had visited the memorial at the Walmart where there was a mass shooting last August. He has more rallies scheduled this weekend in San Antonio, Houston and Austin. Texas may seem an unusual place for Mr. Sanders’s message to resonate, a fact he acknowledged onstage. But he was also optimistic. “I don’t believe it!” he declared, about Texas being a conservative state. “If working people, if young people, if the minority communities come out in large numbers, we can turn this state around.” And, he added, “If we win here in Texas, Trump is finished.” Read more

Feb. 22, 2020, 5:44 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 5:44 p.m. ET By Precinct leaders encounter problems calling in results. HENDERSON — Volunteer precinct leaders at Coronado High School were having problems phoning in results to the Nevada Democratic Party’s hotline. “It’s been busy nonstop for 10 minutes,” said Ruben Murillo, a retired teacher. Mr. Murillo was able to text a photo of his caucus worksheet to party headquarters, but the instructions require him to phone them in as well. “I’m just going to keep trying,” he said. Down the hall, a precinct secretary, Phil Sobutka, had been trying to call for 30 minutes. His attempts to dial the hotline alternatively resulted in a busy signal or a message that said “your call cannot be completed.” Phil Sobutka, a precinct chair from Sun City, Nev., has been calling the Nevada Democratic Party’s results hotline for 15 minutes and keeps getting a busy signal. Here is is trying to report his results. pic.twitter.com/ZkhnPfD7SW — Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) February 22, 2020 Still other precinct leaders seemed unaware of their responsibility to phone in their results. Chas Stewart, a precinct chair here, said his instructions were to deliver his results to the caucus’s site leads, the two state party volunteers in charge of overseeing the 13 precincts at the school. “As far as I know, those are my directions,” Mr. Stewart said. “I don’t know that I have to call anyone.” Read more

Advertisement Continue reading the main story

Feb. 22, 2020, 4:47 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2020, 4:47 p.m. ET By Sanders nabs wins on the Vegas Strip despite dust-up with culinary union. Image Micah Crown-Hunt before a caucus at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Credit... Calla Kessler/The New York Times LAS VEGAS — Bernie Sanders appeared to be performing well at caucus sites for casino workers on the Las Vegas Strip. Mr. Sanders won precincts at the Bellagio and the Wynn, boosting him in sites filled with members of a labor union that has opposed his stance on health care. At the Bellagio, Mr. Sanders received 32 county delegates and Biden received 19; at the Wynn, Mr. Sanders earned six while Mr. Biden earned three. No other candidates were declared viable at either of those two sites. The wins for Sanders are remarkable given how much the powerful Culinary Union — the largest labor union in Nevada — criticized him and his campaign in the weeks leading up to the caucuses. The union released a scorecard that described candidates’ positions on jobs, immigration and health care. While the union described the candidates as effectively the same on jobs and immigration, it noted that Mr. Sanders’s health care position, favoring “Medicare for all,” would eliminate the health care plan that many members treasure. “End Culinary Healthcare,” read the first bullet point beside Mr. Sanders’s name on the flyer. But despite continued criticism from the union’s leadership against Mr. Sanders, many rank-and-file members said in interviews over the last week that they planned to back him. Read more