Bernie Sanders wins Northern Mariana Islands caucuses

Bernie Sanders wins Northern Mariana Islands caucuses

Posted by Sampson Gaddah March 14, 2020
Last Updated:March 14, 2020

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday won the Northern Mariana Islands Democratic presidential caucuses, securing another four delegates in his uphill battle to beat former Vice President Joe Biden for the party’s nomination.

The self-described democratic socialist won four of the six delegates, while Biden won the other two, according to the Associated Press, which also reported that Biden’s lead is now shrunk to 154 delegates.

An island chain in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, the Northern Mariana Islands is one of several U.S. territories that the Republican and Democratic parties give a say in choosing the presidential nominees, even though its citizens can’t vote in presidential elections.

Sanders emerged as the frontrunner in the early primary contests, but Biden soon overtook him as the primary field narrowed and the race moved to more diverse states. The former VP racked up major wins in Super Tuesday and Super Tuesday 2.0 this week.

Nola Hix, chair of the U.S. territory’s Democratic Party, said 134 people caucused Saturday on the Pacific island chain of about 53,000 people.

Hillary Clinton won the Northern Mariana Islands Democratic caucus 54 percent to 34 percent in 2016.

American Samoa is the only other territory to vote in the Democratic primary so far. Mike Bloomberg won its Super Tuesday caucus with 50 percent of the vote, earning four delegates, while Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard finished in second with 29 percent, earning two delegates.

Puerto Rico will hold its Democratic primary on March 29, assigning a total of 51 pledged delegates.

Fox News’ Tyler Olson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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