Sen. Bernie Sanders proclaimed himself the victor of the West Virginia primary Tuesday evening even as many networks and the Associated Press had yet to call the race.
“We just won West Virginia!” was the subject of a Sanders campaign email that went out to supporters not long after polls closed. At that point, NBC projected him the winner, but other networks have held off.
“We just got word that we won our 19th state, taking the majority of the delegates in primary in West Virginia,” the email goes on to say, before asking Sanders supporters for donations to the campaign.
Sanders was expected to defeat Hillary Clinton in West Virginia, particularly as her campaign faced a backlash over some comments she made about the coal industry and her ties to the Obama administration.
