Feb. 21--REPORTING FROM LAS VEGAS -- Hillary Clinton won Nevada's Democratic caucuses Saturday, fending off a strong challenge from a surging Bernie Sanders.
Clinton's victory over the senator from Vermont, albeit close, was a relief to the Democratic front-runner and her supporters and should deliver a burst of momentum heading into the next contest in the Democratic presidential race, the Feb. 27 primary in South Carolina.
More important, the victory could ease some of the concern within the party establishment that arose after Sanders nearly tied Clinton in Iowa and crushed her in the New Hampshire primary.
Clinton thanked supporters in a Las Vegas resort ballroom, where she singled out "hotel and casino workers who never wavered" and students struggling with college debt.
"This is your campaign," she said. "It is a campaign to break down every barrier that holds you back."
Nevada, with its diverse population, was always supposed to be a safe harbor for Clinton, who won the popular vote in the 2008 caucuses and drew strong support from minorities.
In her remarks, Clinton made a point of mentioning issues that resonate with minority voters, from the contamination of drinking water in Flint, Mich., to the racial disparities in policing in Ferguson, Mo.
A survey of voters entering their caucus sites suggests minority and female voters again made the difference on Clinton's behalf.
Women made up more than half the electorate Saturday, and more than 6 in 10 of them supported Clinton. Minority voters were about 40% of the electorate, and more than half voted for Clinton.
Live results from the 2016 Nevada Democratic caucus>>
Sanders conceded defeat in brief remarks to supporters in Henderson, Nev.
"We have a corrupt campaign finance system that is undermining American democracy and must be changed," he told them.
Looking ahead to the Super Tuesday contests on March 1, Sanders warned that Clinton supporters would spend heavily to ensure his defeat, a remark that elicited boos from the crowd.
"We are going to be taking on a very powerful and well-funded super PAC -- a super PAC that receives significant amounts of money from Wall Street and wealthy special interests," he said.
Still, the Nevada contest was closer than originally expected.
Polls showed Clinton with an enormous lead as recently as last month, a gap that closed when Sanders began pouring resources into the state.
He also gained considerable ground after his strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The campaign in Nevada essentially amounted to a personality contest and a question of who Democrats believed would do a better job implementing similar goals.
Both candidates, for instance, vowed to make immigration reform a priority as president and support a pathway to citizenship for millions of people who came to the country illegally but have been law-abiding residents since.
Each decried the Wall Street machinations that helped lead to the Great Recession -- a downturn that hit Nevada far harder than most states -- and promised to crack down on its excesses.
Live updates: Nevada Democrats and South Carolina Republicans get ready to have their say
They called for increasing the minimum wage and making college more accessible, though Sanders went further in both instances, calling for a bigger boost than Clinton and proposing free tuition for all.
The fight, as framed by the candidates and their supporters, was over which candidate was more likely to deliver on the promises.
Clinton suggested many of Sanders' proposals -- like universal healthcare and free college for all -- were appealing in theory but difficult, if not impossible, to implement. She described the longtime political independent as a latecomer to both the Democratic Party and the progressive causes she called her life's work.
"Americans have a right to be angry," she told the crowd in Las Vegas. "But we're also hungry for real solutions."
Sanders sought to depict Clinton as too beholden to Wall Street, which she represented as a New York senator, and too much a part of the political establishment to bring about the revolutionary changes the country's political system needs.
The country could pay for benefits like free college tuition by raising taxes on Wall Street and the very well-to-do, he said, arguing that they have accumulated far more than their fair share of wealth.
In 2008, the last time there was a competitive Democratic race, the result in Nevada was a split decision. Clinton won the popular vote but lost the delegate count to Barack Obama.
Times staff reporters Kate Linthicum and Kurtis Lee in Las Vegas contributed to this story.
Follow @markzbarabak for national California politics.
