DENVER – The campaigns for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will closely watch Colorado on Tuesday, as Democrats prepare for a highly-divided caucus.
Colorado is considered by many to be a bellwether state, and one that is up in the air for Super Tuesday, when 11 states hold Democratic caucuses or primaries.
With Clinton having an edge in at least seven of those states – many in the South – and having recently won her first test in the West with Nevada, Sanders supporters feel a weight to perform well in Colorado.
Sanders’ supporters point to an array of issues close to the candidate, beyond his familiar calls to crack down on banks and the wealthy.
In the West, Sanders and Clinton have pushed immigration reform and gun control as major issues. The respective campaigns also have fought to distinguish themselves with minority voters, including blacks and Latinos.
“This is really a people-powered campaign, so we’re making sure that folks that we know and communicate with and understand are out there,” Sanders campaign state director Dulce Saenz said on Tuesday, after a rally at the state Capitol, where a handful of lawmakers endorsed Sanders.
The Sanders campaign, organized in Colorado since December, has drawn on an initial network of at least 80,000 supporters to assist with volunteer efforts, including phone-banking, canvassing and voter registration.
Sanders would benefit from high turnout Tuesday. In 2008, about 120,000 Coloradans showed up to caucus when Barack Obama defeated Clinton by a wide margin. State party leaders are not expecting turnout to match the stunning 2008 number.
Clinton has been bolstered by establishment support, earning endorsements from at least 90 Colorado Democrats, including high-profile politicians such as Gov. John Hickenlooper, former U.S. Sen. and past Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.
Her campaign has been organized in Colorado since early September.
There are 78 delegates at stake, including 12 superdelegates, who are usually high-ranking officials free to support any candidate.
