US elections: Bernie Sanders widens lead in third Democratic race

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Bernie Sanders widened his lead in the race to become the Democratic party's candidate and face off against US President Donald Trump in November's election.

Sanders scored far ahead of his rivals in the Nevada primaries, cementing his place as the opposition party's frontrunner.

With some 60% of the votes counted, Sanders won 46%, far ahead of Joe Biden who finished in second place with a little over 19%, according to an NBC News projection.

"In Nevada, we have just put together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition, which is going to not only win in Nevada, it's going to sweep this country," Sanders said. An NBC entrance poll showed that he was the favourite among young and Latino voters, who are an important demographic for the Democratic party.

Sanders said Americans were sick of a president who lies all the time and a corrupt administration.

Former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg came in third and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren came in fourth in the primary.

"Sen. Sanders believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans," said moderate rival Pete Buttigieg who performed well in the first two states, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Sanders is a self-described Democratic socialist and represents the more progressive wing of the Democratic party.

Meanwhile, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg was not on the ballot in Nevada, but many have questioned the future of his campaign after he struggled on a debate stage after rival candidates attacked him repeatedly.

Elizabeth Warren continued to criticise Bloomberg after the Nevada caucus, stating that he cannot just buy the primary having skipped races in the first four states.

The next primary will be in South Carolina next weekend before fourteen states take to the polls on Super Tuesday, March 3.
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Read more: How do the US presidential election primaries work?**