2016 Colorado Democratic presidential caucuses

The 2016 Colorado Democratic presidential caucuses took place on March 1 in the U.S. state of Colorado as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

2016 Colorado Democratic presidential caucuses

March 1, 2016

Candidate Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton Home state Vermont New York Delegate count 41 25 Popular vote 72,846 49,789 Percentage 58.98% 40.31%

Colorado results by county   Bernie Sanders   Hillary Clinton   Uncommited

On the same day, dubbed "Super Tuesday," Democratic primaries were held in ten other states plus American Samoa, while the Republican Party held primaries in eleven states including their own Colorado caucuses.

Youth[1][2] and Latino[3] caucus-goers delivered a win for Bernie Sanders.

Opinion polling

Poll source	Date	1st	2nd	Other
Caucus results	March 1, 2016	Bernie Sanders 59.44%	Hillary Clinton 39.85%	Other 0.71%
Washington Free Beacon/TPC Research[4] Margin of error: ± 3% Sample size: 1144	February 16–17, 2016	Bernie Sanders 49%	Hillary Clinton 43%	Undecided 9%
Quinnipiac University[5] Margin of error: ± 4.9% Sample size: 404	November 11–15, 2015	Hillary Clinton 55%	Bernie Sanders 27%	Martin O'Malley 2% Undecided 15%
Suffolk University[6] Margin of error: ± ? Sample size: 159	September 13–16, 2014	Hillary Clinton 59%	Elizabeth Warren 21%	Joe Biden 8% Andrew Cuomo 4% Martin O’Malley 0% Undecided 6% Other 2% Refused 1%

Results

Results of the precinct caucus

Caucus date

March 1, 2016

 2016 Democratic Party's presidential nominating process in Colorado
– Summary of results –

Candidate	Popular vote		Estimated delegates
	Count	Percentage	Pledged	Unpledged	Total
Bernie Sanders	72,846	58.98%	41	0	41
Hillary Clinton	49,789	40.31%	25	9	34
Uncommitted	822	0.67%	0	3	3
Others	51	0.04%
Total	123,508	100%	66	12	78
Sources: The Green Papers and Colorado Democrats 2016 Caucus results

Detailed estimates per congressional district

Detailed results for the Colorado Democratic caucuses, March 1, 2016[7]

District	Total estimate		Bernie Sanders		Hillary Clinton
	Votes	Estimated delegates	Votes	Estimated delegates	Votes	Estimated delegates
1st district	29,474	8	16,232	4	13,242	4
2nd district	30,624	7	19,376	4	11,248	3
3rd district	14,671	6	8,956	4	5,715	2
4th district	10,060	5	6,115	3	3,945	2
5th district	10,315	5	6,338	3	3,977	2
6th district	12,836	6	6,675	3	6,161	3
7th district	14,655	6	9,154	4	5,501	4
At-large delegates	122,635	14	72,846	8	49,789	6
Pledged PLEOs		9		5		4
Total		66		38		28

Results of the county assemblies

Timeframe for the county assemblies

March 2–26, 2016

Colorado Democratic county assemblies, March 2–26, 2016

Candidate	State + District delegates[8]		Estimated delegates
	Count	Percentage	Pledged	Unpledged	Total
Bernie Sanders	372	61.39%
Hillary Clinton	234	38.61%
Uncommitted
Total	606	100%

Results of the congressional district conventions

Detailed results for the congressional district conventions, April 1–15, 2016[9]

District	Delegates available	Delegates won
		Sanders	Clinton
1st district	8	5	3
2nd district	7	4	3
3rd district	6	4	2
4th district	5	3	2
5th district	5	3	2
6th district	6	3	3
7th district	6	4	2
Total	43	26	17

Results of the state convention

State convention date

April 16, 2016

Colorado Democratic State Convention, April 16, 2016[10]

Candidate	State convention delegates		National delegates won
	Count	Percentage	At-large	PLEO	Total
Bernie Sanders	1,900	62.3%	9	6	15
Hillary Clinton	1,150	37.7%	5	3	8
Total	3,050	100.0%	14	9	23

Analysis

As Barack Obama had similarly done eight years earlier in the state, Bernie Sanders won a convincing 19-point victory in the Colorado caucus, relying on turnout from young adult voters in a majority white electorate.[11][12] He ran up big margins in the capital city of Denver and in Denver County at large, as well as in Colorado Springs in El Paso County and Fort Collins in Larimer County. Sanders also performed very strongly in the western parts of the state along the Rocky Mountains, in regions such as the Colorado Mineral belt and Northwestern Colorado which are rural and sparsely populated. Clinton won in the city of Pueblo in Pueblo County.

Sanders gained more delegates over Clinton with a large turnout from supporters at the conventions in April.[13]

References

1. "Bernie Sanders defeats Hillary Clinton in Colorado Democratic caucus". The Denver Post. 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
2. Markus, Ben. "Record Caucus Crowds Catch Officials Off Guard As Sanders Wins Colorado". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
3. "Texas Latinos Back Clinton, Sanders Takes Latino Counties in Colorado". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
4. "Free Beacon Poll: Sanders Overtakes Clinton in Colorado".
5. "Quinnipiac poll" (PDF).
6. "Suffolk" (PDF). suffolk.edu. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
7. The Green Papers
8. "Colorado Democrats 2016 Delegates" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-15. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
9. The Green Papers
10. The Green Papers
11. "The Latest: Bernie Sanders wins Colorado's Democratic caucus". Archived from the original on 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
12. Wilkie, Christina (2016-03-01). "Bernie Sanders Wins Colorado Democratic Caucus". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
13. "Bernie Sanders wins Colorado with big showing at state convention – The Denver Post". Retrieved 2016-08-07.