Why does Colorado vote differently from its neighbors, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming? Because different states have different populations with different concerns, interests and outlooks.
With Nevada, a big reason for the difference is that they use the caucus system, not a primary. Primaries are open to anyone who registers to vote, you go vote as your state/county determine--not the party, you get out, that's all that's expected of you as a citizen.
Caucuses are completely different. They're private events held by the political parties themselves. You have to get together with your neighbors in your precinct and you form groups based on your preferred candidate to sort out who you want to give delegates to at the state convention. You can debate other caucus participants about the merits of candidates, try to persuade them to join up with you and all of that. Some of them have the option to come in, vote for who you want, and get out, but most of them require you to show up on a certain day at a certain time and spend however long it takes choosing delegates.
It's a complicated, drawn-out process that can be quite tedious, but also prone to some of the worst of human nature: highly insular, prone to group think, and sometimes even bullying from dominating participants. It's also not a coincidence that the caucus system is favored in states with, shall we say, not the most diverse populations, like Iowa, Kentucky, North Dakota and Wyoming. Only Nevada is the exception to this.
Whatever it's pluses or minuses, BS consistently does well in the caucus ecosystem. He did well in Iowa, and won North Dakota outright. My guess is that he gets an edge in a caucus because he's familiar with a similar political animal, the New England town meeting, still popular in places like Vermont. He knows how to use that type of small-group, community-driven process to his advantage--from experience. Most politicians from outside New England don't know how to use that to their advantage.
But where he has far less success is in the more democratic and population-diverse primary system. Hillary shellacked him in the 2016 primaries, racking up nearly 4 million more votes. In 2016, BS won big in Washington, which was using the caucus system then. This year, they went to a primary system, and Biden beat him. Not by much, but still a win. He won New Hampshire, his own state of Vermont, and California in the primary ecosystem, but he's stumbled in all the other primary states. But don't be fooled by the NH and CA wins. Taking only Buttgieg and Klobuchar off the ticket would have given Biden the win, or made it dang close. Take off Bloomberg alone, and he wins for sure. Take off all three--Biden runs away with CA in particular. He also would have increased his advantage in Texas with them off the ticket, rather than eking out a smaller win.
With those three candidates off the ballots in those few states, it really would have been over for BS after Super Tuesday. Not that he has the grace or class to admit it.
Congratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
= new reply since forum marked as read