Updated 7:45 p.m.
The Kansas Democratic Party declared Bernie Sanders the winner of Saturday's Kansas Democratic caucuses. The Vermont senator took 23 delegates, and opponent Hillary Clinton took 10.
Just hours after the GOP caucus in downtown Wichita boasted personal appearances from party frontrunners on Saturday, including eventual winner Ted Cruz, area Democrats swamped their caucus sites to support their candidates.
Voters at the Democratic caucus at Coleman Middle School were organized into groups—the gym bleachers on the right for Hillary Clinton, the bleachers on the left for Bernie Sanders. Initially, organizers planned to host the caucus in the auditorium, but they underestimated the turnout and the overflow crowd was directed to the much-larger gym.
Keith Sanborn, a former Sedgwick County District Attorney, came to put his name down for Bernie Sanders, who the 93-year-old describes as a real Democrat speaking to the issues that matter to the people.
“All of the people are supposed to be included in this country, not just a few," Sanborn said.
Across the lacquered floor sat Alfred Battle, who came out to the caucus to support Hillary Clinton.
“Right now we need a leader that’s going to continue to be progressive, rather than for us to, as some say, go back to the way things used to be," Battle said.
Statewide, Sanders received 26,450 votes. Clinton received 12,593.
Many of the Democratic caucus locations in Sedgwick County had similar turnouts to the one at Coleman Middle, with more attendees than expected. Nearly 40,000 people voted.
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