Buoyed by the support of African-Americans and enthusiastic workers in the city’s big casinos, Hillary Clinton defeated Senator Bernie Sanders in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, thwarting his momentum and proving to an anxious Democratic Party that she can assemble a broad coalition of voters who could carry her to the general election.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday as the results of the often-unpredictable campaign began to roll in.
Mrs. Clinton had for months considered Nevada a haven that would provide a welcome shift from the mostly white electorates of New Hampshire and Iowa.
But in recent weeks, Mr. Sanders’s populist message began to take hold and polls showed the two Democrats in a statistical dead heat.
Her campaign, bracing for another loss, seemed to look beyond Nevada to the contest next weekend in South Carolina.