MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Let's look now at the Democrats, where Bernie Sanders has claimed his eighth victory out of the past nine Democratic primary contests, with a win in Wyoming's caucuses earlier today. We're going to hear from two Wyoming caucus-goers in just a minute, but first, let's get an idea of what a Sanders win actually means for the Democrat side of the presidential race. Here's NPR's Nathan Rott.
NATHAN ROTT, BYLINE: Eight out of 9 sounds pretty good, and by most measures it is. It matters momentum-wise.
CATHY CONNOLLY: It matters on a symbolic level tremendously.
ROTT: So says Cathy Connolly, a Democrat and member of Wyoming's House of Representatives. But in other, more measurable terms Wyoming is - well, I'll let Oliver Walter, the former dean of arts and sciences at the University of Wyoming, say it.
OLIVER WALTER: In terms of the vote, it doesn't matter.
ROTT: Wyoming has just 14 pledged delegates, the lowest of all states. And even if Sanders managed to snag all of them in the deeply conservative rural state today, he's still well behind his opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the overall pledged delegate race. That's part of the reason both candidates are far and away from Wyoming today, throwing jabs at each other on the campaign trail in New York, where there's more at stake. New York has 247 delegates up for grabs, almost 18-times more than Wyoming. And the primary there is only 10 days away. That state could prove to be more of a challenge for Sanders. He's had a lot of success in rural, mostly-white states like Wyoming but less so in states with larger more diverse democratic electorates, like New York or Maryland and Pennsylvania, which will hold their primaries in the next couple of weeks. If Sanders is able to win in New York though and back east, it would change the direction of the Democratic race. Nathan Rott, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
