Washington State, Hawaii, Alaska Democratic Caucuses Today

March 26, 2016

Democratic caucuses are being held today in Washington state, Alaska and Hawaii. No polling to go on, but Sanders has generally done well in caucus states, particularly those with smaller minority populations. 

Heading into today, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders 1,223 to 920 in delegates won at events; the totals are 1,691 to 949 when superdelegates that have committed to one candidate or the other are included. 2,383 delegates are needed to win the Democratic nomination.

As a reminder, all Democratic contests allocate delegates on a proportional basis, with some of those delegates allocated on an at-large basis, the remainder based on results in each individual congressional district. There is a 15% minimum to qualify for any delegates. 

Washington: By far the largest prize on Saturday, with 101 delegates up for grabs. The Seattle Times reports that caucuses run from 10AM to about noon, Pacific Time (1-3PM ET). That may mean we'll have some results during the afternoon.

Hawaii: The state, one of the most liberal in the nation, will award 25 delegates today. This WSJ article points out that the state's large Asian popoulation could provide some early insight into how California will vote in June. (Not sure about that given that California is a primary and 2 1/2 months away, but an interesting premise). The caucus (actually they are calling it a 'Presidential Preference Poll') begins at 1PM local time (7PM ET).

Alaska: The smallest of the day's events, the state will award 16 delegates. Alaska only has one congressional district. Caucuses begin at 10AM local time (2PM ET).

After today, the next event on the Democratic calendar is the April 5 Wisconsin primary.