Bernie Sanders Gets A Small State Win In West Virginia But Can’t Stop Hillary Clinton

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:00 pm

Bernie Sanders picked up a win in the West Virginia primary, but his victory does nothing to change the likely outcome of Hillary Clinton being the Democratic nominee.

Shortly after the polls closed, numerous media outlets declared Sen. Sanders the winner in West Virginia, but it is likely that he will only gain a few delegates. At best, he will gain nine delegates. Bernie Sanders can’t catch Hillary Clinton by winning handfuls of delegates at a time.

What will end up dooming Bernie Sanders isn’t the superdelegates, but the fact that he lost Florida, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Georgia by large margins. Sanders has lost big delegate prizes by big margins.

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Hillary Clinton is no longer competing in the Democratic primary. Over the past week, her attention has been focused on Donald Trump. The Democratic race has now gotten to the point where Sen. Sanders would have to win 75% of the vote in California to turn heads. It is not going to happen. The superdelegates have shown no signs of flipping because they understand that hypothetical general election matchup polls are worthless.

Sen. Sanders should continue to campaign, and he has to keep believing that he has a path to the Democratic nomination, but the reality is that victories in red states like Indiana and West Virginia are window dressing in a contest that all but decided.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association