Tuesday night’s primaries proved once again that the Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) presidential campaign still has enormous support, despite little chance of victory.
Sanders picked up a 9-point win in the Oregon primary, claiming a slim majority of the state’s pledged delegates.
The Democratic frontrunner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is clinging to the narrowest of leads in Kentucky. With 99-percent counted, Clinton is up by fewer than 2,000 votes. Her campaign declared victory, although the results won’t be official until the end of the month, barring a request from Sanders for a recount.
The delegate gap remains largely unchanged. Sanders netted a total of four pledged delegates on the night, but still remains roughly 280 behind Clinton. The campaign is looking for hefty delegate hauls in the coming weeks as California and New Jersey hold their contests.
The fact that Sanders keeps winning is only emboldening his supporters to agitate for more influence in the direction of the Democratic Party. In a speech on Tuesday night, Sanders said the party should take notice.
“I say to the leadership of the Democratic Party: Open the doors, let the people in!” he said.
“Or the other option for the Democratic Party,” Sanders added, “which I see as a very sad and tragic option is to choose and maintain its status quo structure, remain dependent on big money campaign contributions and be a party with limited participation and limited energy.”
The tension between Sanders voters and party officials was on display over the weekend during the Nevada Democratic Convention, where Sanders supporters claim they were being unfairly treated during the official delegate seating process.
In response, they nearly rioted, allegedly throwing chairs and hurling obscenities at Nevada party officials. The state’s party chairwoman Roberta Lange later claimed she received death threats.
Sanders denounced the actions in a statement noting that the campaign “of course believes in non-violent change and it goes without saying that I condemn any and all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals.”
He, however, placed blame for the incident on party officials tilting the contest in his rival’s favor.
“If the Democratic Party is to be successful in November, it is imperative that all state parties treat our campaign supporters with fairness and the respect that they have earned,” Sanders said in a statement in response to the chaos in Nevada. He alleged that leadership at the convention “used its power to prevent a fair and transparent process from taking place.”
Democratic Party establishment figures are raising concern that similar tactics by Sanders supporters could mar the July national convention in Philadelphia.
“We saw what happened at the Trump rallies, which broke into violence, people punching one another. I don’t want to see that happen at the Democratic Party,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told CNN this week. “I call on Bernie to say to his supporters: be fervent, be committed but be sensible. Don’t engage in any violence,” he added.
Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver dismissed the concerns. “There’s not going to be any violence in Philadelphia,” he told CNN.
