‘Bernie’s for the workers. He’s been on pickets for 40 years’
It was voting Las Vegas-style. At hotels along the Strip, giant casino-hotels hosted caucus sites where croupiers, pit bosses, cocktail waitresses, cooks and cleaners were allowed extended breaks to take part.
They did so as hotels were packed with fans for Tyson Fury’s boxing world title bout against Deontay Wilder at the MGM Grand.
At the nearby Paris hotel, employees walked past a 500ft-high replica of the Eiffel Tower to a cavernous ballroom where they gathered next to signs for each candidate.
The Culinary Union, of which most were members, had not endorsed anyone but indicated it favoured Joe Biden. In one corner union members chanted “Biden, Biden”, and briefly booed across the ballroom at co-workers backing Bernie Sanders.
In an impassioned plea, Monie Cariaga, 51, a Paris hotel cocktail waitress, told the ballroom: “Bernie is for working people. Bernie Sanders has been on our pickets for the last 40 years.”
Chris Minton, a casino odds maker, said: “I just think Pete’s the best middle-ground guy. I’ve been to a few Bernie events and I just think they come off a bit culty.”
Mr Biden prevailed at the Paris, but at the Bellagio hotel Mr Sanders won decisively. Monica Smith, 54, a Sanders supporter working at the Bellagio, said: “We’re ecstatic, although it’s never a good day when you see your co-workers split; you saw us on both sides.”
There were 250 caucus sites and any ties were decided by a Las Vegas-style high card draw. At North Valleys High School in Reno, Mr Buttigieg’s supporters drew a three, but still won when Mr Sanders’s group drew a two.