Hillary Clinton was today set to win the Democratic caucuses in Nevada, based on exit polling and the bulk of voting precincts reporting.
The US television networks called the race for the former first lady, who had been running close to Barack Obama in early reporting.
With 84% of precincts reporting, Clinton was on 50.5% and Obama on 45.3%, Edwards was third on 3.8%.
The race between the two had become bitter over the last week, with court cases over especially convened caucuses for casino and hotel workers on the Las Vegas strip and angry exchanges between the candidates. The Clinton camp accused Obama-supporting unions of putting pressure on their members to support him.
At the Mirage casino, tempers were running high. Obama organizers wearing red Culinary Workers Union T-shirts gathered near the registration desk calling for people to come on side. "The bosses are going to be on one side of the room and the workers another. It’s very clear. Let everybody know," said one.
Other organizers were openly angry when union organizers went over to the Clinton camp. An Obama organizer, Theresa More, said "We are going to deal with them when we get back to our respective hotels."
The Clinton camp was also putting on pressure. Bill Clinton spent close to an hour at the door to the caucus sites shaking hands with those going in.
Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Clinton campaign, said before Clinton’s projected win: "If this was a primary not a caucus we would be up by 10 points. We might make it anyway but it is a tough deal."
The vote was seen as a test of the emerging influence of Nevada’s Latino community, which makes up more than 20% of the population, as well as the organizing ability of its unions. The workforce of Las Vegas’ hotels and casinos are heavily unionized.
The result will set up a battle between the leading Democrats in South Carolina. Edwards, who yesterday complained media focus on Clinton and Obama had contributed to the Democratic primaries becoming a two-person race, will be fighting to keep his candidacy alive in his birth state.
An opinion poll published in yesterday’s Las Vegas Review-Journal showed Clinton maintaining a comfortable lead over her rivals with 41% of the vote. Obama was on 32%, and John Edwards on 14%.
It also suggested that Clinton has solid support from Latino voters who favored her by 50% to 29% over Obama.
But even before the first votes were cast, the contest had already begun to move beyond Nevada. Clinton, Obama and Edwards all made their last appearances in the state yesterday before moving on to campaign in states voting on February 5 – when more than 20 states choose a candidate for president.