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Sanders Wins Wyoming Caucuses for Eighth Victory Over Clinton in Last Nine Contests

Hillary Clinton still maintains a substantial lead over Sanders overall, and Wyoming has just 14 pledged delegates, the fewest of any state.
Photo via Matt Rourke/AP

Bernie Sanders won the Wyoming caucuses on Saturday afternoon, marking his eighth victory over Hillary Clinton in the last nine contests.

The Associated Press called the contest at around 4:40pm ET, with around 87 percent of precincts reporting. Sanders had secured 56-44 percent of the vote over Clinton at that time.

Clinton's last victory was in Arizona on March 22, on the same day that Sanders won contests in Idaho and Utah. Sanders has continued to rack up wins since then, mostly in Western states and in contests where Democrats abroad can vote.

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Clinton retained a lead of 250 pledged delegates over Sanders on Saturday morning, according to the AP. That advantage won't change much despite Sanders' victory in Wyoming — just 14 delegates were up for grabs, the fewest of any state.

Related: Why Bernie Sanders' Campaign Thinks He Still Has a Decent Shot of Beating Clinton

The Sanders campaign, which has been tracking its own pledged delegate count by state, said that figures reported in the media recently were inaccurate because some delegate trackers did not account for the senator's win in Washington state, county-level victories in Nevada, and final results from Arizona. The campaign's internal tracker estimated the gap between Clinton and Sanders had actually narrowed to 214 pledged delegates.

Pledged delegate counts can change after initial precinct-level contests are held, based on final vote counts. They are also adjusted as states that hold caucuses hold elections at the county and state level, where delegates are formally elected and bound to a particular candidate.

"As we have pointed out since Iowa, the enthusiasm and commitment of Sen. Sanders' supporters will enable us to add delegates to our total in many caucus states as the process moves from precinct to county and then to the final state and congressional district level," Sanders Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver said in an email statement Saturday. "There is no better example than the state of Nevada, where last weekend Bernie Sanders gained four delegates at county caucuses with a decisive 55 to 45 percent victory in Clark County."

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The candidates are fighting to reach 2,383 delegates, the threshold needed to secure the Democratic nomination before the Democratic National Convention in July. That possibility remains remote as Sanders continues to accumulate wins, despite early predictions that Clinton would clinch the nomination easily.

Related: Clinton: Republicans Hoping to See Me in Handcuffs Are Living in a 'World of Fantasy'

The next big test will be on April 19 in New York, where 247 pledged delegates are at stake. Clinton is currently leading Sanders by 18 percentage points in New York, according to the latest Emerson College poll on April 8. The candidates have both been campaigning heavily in the state in recent days. On Saturday, Sanders will hold three events in Harlem and the Bronx, in areas that are predominantly African American and Hispanic, while Clinton is also holding a Latino organizing event in Brooklyn on Saturday night.

Sanders and Clinton became embroiled in a war of words this week, with each portraying the other as "unqualified" to take the White House. Sanders also hit at Clinton's high-dollar fundraisers in a series of emails, while also acknowledging that contributions to his own campaign this month had slowed. Sanders has out-raised Clinton for three consecutive months, including by almost $15 million in March.

Follow Liz Fields on Twitter: @lianzifields