On Saturday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders scored three victories, beating frontrunner Hillary Clinton in contests in Hawaii, Washington, and Alaska.
During an address in Wisconsin, Sanders thanked Alaska for “a resounding victory”, and also claimed strong momentum in Washington state.
“We knew things would begin to improve when we moved west,” he said to huge applause. The Washington results came in as he spoke, and he drew a deafening cheer when he read the news aloud, according to the newspaper.
With 173 delegates at stake in the three western states, Sanders picked up badly needed momentum as he struggles to close the gap with the former Secretary of State.
Currently, Sanders trails Clinton in the delegate count 956 to 1,234. To secure the nomination, a candidate needs 2,383 delegates.
Clinton’s campaign conceded that Sanders had the edge in all three contests Saturday, but claimed that even the largest prize, Washington, will make little difference in the dynamics of a primary contest that she has long been favored to win.
The latest Bloomberg poll of likely Democratic primary voters nationwide shows a tight race, with Sanders edging out Clinton 49% to 48%. Recent polls in Pennsylvania, however, show Sanders losing to Hillary by 25 points. A landslide loss in Pennsylvania would leave Sanders with few paths to the nomination, and would require a sizable Sanders win in California, where he presently trails by 7 points.
A CNN/ORC survey last week gave Sanders a 20-point lead over Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in a head-to-head contest. Clinton held a 12-point lead over Trump in the same survey.
Sanders hopes that momentum from his victories Saturday will carry forward to a much-watched contest on April 5 in Wisconsin, which shares borders with two states — Michigan and Minnesota — that Sanders won over Clinton in previous contests.
Both candidates are expected to campaign in Wisconsin over the next few days.