Bernie Sanders Wins Minnesota's Democratic Caucus
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- CBS News has projecting a win for Bernie Sanders in Minnesota's Democratic Caucuses.
The Vermont Democrat beat Hillary Clinton to take the largest share of the state's available delegates. Sanders had put a sharp focus on Minnesota's contest, making several stops in the days before the Tuesday's vote.
The DFL party chair said only a handful of precincts ran out of ballots and that, despite the very heavy turnout, voting was orderly.
GALLERY: Minnesota Caucuses Bring Out Droves
The long lines curled into the 14 separate caucuses at St. Paul's Central High School. Gov. Mark Dayton was among those who braved the lines, filling out his ballot for Clinton, on whose behalf he campaigned.
Anyone who was in line as of 8 p.m. was allowed to vote, so DFL officials say it could be awhile before all the ballots are counted.
RESULTS: Democratic Presidential Caucus
Clinton was in Florida to find out Super Tuesday results, but did make time for a quick stop in Minneapolis Tuesday afternoon. It was Clinton's first visit in person to Minnesota in a few weeks. Clinton made two brief stops at Minneapolis businesses.
Sanders was in town on Monday and in Hibbing, Duluth and Rochester recently as well. He was watching the results in Vermont, his home state.
Minnesota was one of 12 states hosting presidential votes in a day dubbed Super Tuesday. Minnesota had 77 delegates up for grabs, but Sanders won't win them all. The party's caucus system awards them proportionally based on each candidate's share of the vote.
Sanders' path to the nomination relies on wins in caucus states like Minnesota, where the voting format favors candidates with strongly committed supporters. But a bulk of party superdelegates have already committed to Clinton.
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