Sen. Bernie Sanders left the Nevada caucuses with a resounding victory earning 46.8 percent of the vote, more than doubling the vote total of his closest competitor, Vice President Joe Biden, who garnered 20.2 percent.
University of Miami students were left waiting with the rest of the country after the results were delayed similarly to those during the Iowa caucuses debacle, however, after a virtual tie in Iowa, the results in Nevada were much more definitive.
UM’s only student from Nevada shared her views on the results and commented on the race at large in the wake of Sanders’ commanding win.
“I would speculate that the democratic nominee would have to be more of a centrist to beat Trump, but I don’t have a background in political science,” said Cameron Bracey, a junior at UM majoring in marketing and business technology.
Bracey says she did not fill out an absentee ballot due to a pending address change, however she added that there were other factors in her decision not to vote.
“All democratic candidates were not represented in our primary,” she said. “I felt less inclined to vote since it did not accurately represent what the distribution of the vote would look like in our state if all candidates were included.” Not on the ballot this time around was former Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
Bracey says she does not have a favorite candidate but would like someone she feels could beat President Donald Trump. Rather than a preferred candidate, Bracey says she is focusing on the issues.
“There’s huge room for improvement in our education systems. Nevada in particular does not have a very good education system,” Bracey said. “I can’t recall a time in my life where I’ve known the state to be ranked higher than 45th in the nation for education.”