The 2020 Nevada caucuses

By Fernando Alfonso III and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 11:02 p.m. ET, February 22, 2020
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8:08 p.m. ET, February 22, 2020

Two caucuses were decided by high-card draws, Nevada precinct chair says

From CNN's Paul P. Murphy

Courtesy Ross Armstrong
Courtesy Ross Armstrong

Ross Armstrong was the precinct chair for two small caucuses at Echo Loder Elementary School in Reno, Nevada, where both were decided by high-card draws from a deck of cards.

Armstrong says both are very small precincts and only have one delegate to award and thus the viability rule doesn't apply and the candidate with the most votes wins the delegate.

In one precinct, there were only three caucusgoers participating: one caucusgoer who supported Pete Buttigieg, and two early voters who went for Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.  

A three-way tie for the single delegate.  

"Because there were no in-person reps for Bernie or Warren, we just went to the caucus next door to find supports to pull the cards," Armstrong said. 

Warren won the delegate in that precinct with a jack of hearts; Sanders pulled a four of spades and Buttigieg pulled a three of diamonds.

In the other precinct he chaired, one caucusgoer supported former Vice President Joe Biden and the other Buttigieg. 

Buttigieg won the delegate with an eight of spades, which beat out Biden's seven of clubs.

CNN's Dana Bash explains:

7:21 p.m. ET, February 22, 2020

Klobuchar: "I think we have exceeded expectations" in the Nevada caucuses

From CNN's Kate Sullivan

Amy Klobuchar said she thinks her presidential campaign has exceeded expectations in the Nevada caucuses as votes are being counted. 

“We have a great team down there, still working hard. They're counting the votes, but as usual, I think we have exceeded expectations,” Klobuchar said in a speech to supporters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

“A lot of people didn't even think that I would still be standing at this point,” the Minnesota senator said. Her campaign finished fifth in Iowa and third in New Hampshire. 

Klobuchar continued: “They didn't think I’d make it through that speech in the snow, they didn't think I’d make it to the debate floor, but time and time again, because of all of you and because of the people around this country that want something different than the guy in the White House, we have won.”

Watch Klobuchar speak to supporters:

7:17 p.m. ET, February 22, 2020

Sanders tries monitoring Nevada caucus results on plane, but WiFi isn't cooperating

From CNN's Annie Grayer

Bernie Sanders may be a plane to San Antonio, Texas, but his focus still appears to be on the Nevada caucuses.

Sanders got up from his seat shortly after taking off to walk over to his deputy campaign manager Ari Rabin-Havt and ask for an update on the Nevada caucus results.

At first Rabin-Havt could not get service, and asked the plane to reboot their WiFi, and for everyone on the plane to turn off their WiFi.

When Rabin-Havt finally did get WiFi, he found that not much of the official results were in.

Sanders then returned to his seat.

7:05 p.m. ET, February 22, 2020

What Trump is saying about the Nevada caucuses

President Trump congratulated Bernie Sanders for doing well in the Nevada caucuses.

Trump went on to hit the other Democratic candidates who he said look “weak” and claimed former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg can’t “restart his campaign after the worst debate performance in the history of Presidential Debates.”

Read Trump's tweet:

7:41 p.m. ET, February 22, 2020

Early county delegates results have Sanders ahead in Nevada

Sen. Bernie Sanders has taken an early lead in Nevada with just 1% of precincts reporting on county delegates.

Sanders leads with 29.3%, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 18.7%. In third place is former Vice President Joe Biden with 17.3%.

"Remember that the county delegates will determine the winner," CNN's Wolf Blitzer said this evening.

How county delegates work: The Nevada State Democratic Party will release the county delegate results of the precinct caucuses for each candidate. The national delegate number will reflect those results. As in previous cycles, CNN will determine the winner by the candidate who receives the most county delegates.

Though the release of these votes could show one candidate winning the most actual votes and another winning the most delegates, CNN will continue to use the candidate with the most delegates as the standard, as it will reflect the most votes at the national convention.

For the first time, the state party will also release the results of the first and final preference votes (more on that below) alongside the county delegates, but like the popular vote's relation to the Electoral College, the delegates will ultimately reflect who's in the top spot.

The big picture for Democrats: To win the Democratic presidential nomination on the first ballot during the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee in July, a candidate needs 1,991 pledged delegate votes. Nevada has 36 up for grabs Saturday.

Though that’s only about 1% of the delegates up for grabs, the momentum a candidate can gain from showing strength in a state with a diverse population, strong union representation and Western location can change the direction of the race.

CNN's David Chalian breaks down the latest reporting:

6:50 p.m. ET, February 22, 2020

Nevada GOP awards all delegates to Trump

From CNN's Adam Levy

Democratic presidential candidates aren’t the only ones earning delegates today.

The Nevada Republican Party voted to allocate all 25 of their delegates to President Trump during their winter meeting today.

The state party voted to forgo a formal caucus last year and instead hold an “alternative presidential preference poll” during the meeting. Other state parties — both Democrat and Republican — have opted to do the same when an incumbent president of their party is running for reelection. 

Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Guam, Kansas, and South Carolina Republicans are not holding formal primaries or caucuses this year as well.

It takes 1,276 delegates to win the Republican nomination. After winning the Nevada slate today, CNN estimates Trump currently has 86 delegates.

6:16 p.m. ET, February 22, 2020

Warren campaign saw huge cash influx heading into Nevada

From CNN's MJ Lee

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren greets supporters during a visit to a caucus site at Coronado High School on Saturday, February 22, in Henderson, Nevada.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren greets supporters during a visit to a caucus site at Coronado High School on Saturday, February 22, in Henderson, Nevada. David Becker/Getty Images

Last Wednesday, the day after a tough fourth place finish in the New Hampshire primary, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's campaign announced a new fundraising goal: to raise $7 million before the Nevada caucuses.

The campaign eventually upped that goal to $12 million after Warren’s strong debate performance in Las Vegas kicked her fundraising into high gear. And this morning, the campaign announced that they ultimately raised more than $14 million — more than double their original goal.

Do the math: It comes out to roughly $1.5 million per day.

Obviously, some of that money came in before the debate, some of it after.

Warren advisers tell CNN that they see the supporters who gave pre-debate as those who were not counting her out and recognizing that she is in third place in delegates. Meanwhile, some of the supporters who gave post-debate, they say, did so because they saw a woman on the debate stage who could take on and defeat President Donald Trump.

Why the influx of cash was so important: CNN learned this week that the Warren campaign ended the month of January with just a little over $2 million cash on hand, and that it also took out a $3 million credit around the Iowa caucuses.

The campaign will, of course, need to keep up its fundraising as it heads into expensive Super Tuesday states and beyond, but the fundraising boost this week came at a moment when they really needed it.

6:13 p.m. ET, February 22, 2020

Several people are getting busy signals when trying to call in Nevada caucus results

From CNN's Paul Murphy and Dianne Gallagher

People take pictures of the results at a Democratic presidential caucus site at the Bellagio hotel-casino on Saturday, February 22, in Las Vegas.
People take pictures of the results at a Democratic presidential caucus site at the Bellagio hotel-casino on Saturday, February 22, in Las Vegas. John Locher/AP

CNN has spoken to several people who are experiencing busy signals when they are trying to phone in results from their Nevada caucus precincts.

"The hotline is giving people a busy tone," said Stephen Letzler, precinct chair at Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas. "I tried it twice, but other captains were also trying and having the same issues. I just gave up, and others did as well." 

He said he believes the redundancies that have been set up are working, though. 

Caucus volunteers are able to text pictures of their results to headquarters.

“The texting of a photo of the caucus reporting worksheet also worked well. And hard copy of that worksheet is also being carried physically to headquarters. So all in all, things went pretty smoothly, I think," Letzler said.

Matthew Tramp, a precinct chair at Garside Middle School in Las Vegas, said he's working on reporting the results to the Nevada Democratic Party, but he's getting a busy tone when calling the hotline.  

“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," Molly Forgey, Nevada State Democratic Party spokesperson, told CNN.

The party acknowledged other forms of verification are coming in. 

CNN's Dianne Gallagher has the details:

5:53 p.m. ET, February 22, 2020

Here’s what we know about the votes in Nevada

Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Sen. Bernie Sanders maintains a large lead in terms of the popular vote in Nevada with 5% of precincts reporting.

Sanders has 3,532 votes with former Vice President Joe Biden in second with 1,568.

"We are getting early results from our reporters at caucus sites across Nevada. We are standing by for official results out from the state Democratic party. We expect to get those soon," CNN's Anderson Cooper said this afternoon.

Watch former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang's analysis: