Clinton Edges Sanders in Kentucky Primary

(CN) - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defeated Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Kentucky primary on Tuesday, edging him by an apparent margin of about 4,300 votes.

As a result, Clinton, who garnered 47 percent of the popular vote, is expected to pick up 27 pledged delegates. Sanders, who received 46 percent of the vote, will likely come out of the contewt with 25 pledged delegates.

More than 5 percent of voters in Kentucky some 22,685 people declared themselves uncommitted.

In the meantime, both Democrats and Republicans are casting their votes in Oregon, where the polls are scheduled to close at 11 p.m. eastern time.

Kentucky was expected to be problematic for Sanders because the state holds a closed primary and the senator's loyal base of independent voters could not participate.

But the primary comes at a time when deep fissures have emerged among Democrats.

On Saturday, a riot broke out at the Nevada Democratic Party meeting in Las Vegas, where Sanders' supporters, believing the selection of delegates was rigged against their candidate, threw chairs, shouted down speakers and even threatened the state party chair.

So heated did things become that Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a featured speaker at the event, was loudly booed when she took the stage, and she later said she feared for her safety.

In the aftermath of the riot, the Nevada Democratic Party sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee accusing Sanders' supporters of displaying a "penchant for extra-parliamentary behavior — indeed, actual violence — in place of democratic conduct in a convention setting."

Deeply alarmed by what had occurred, Democratic leaders pressed Sanders to forcefully denounce the mayhem and the mischief makers.

"There is no excuse for what happened in Nevada, and it is incumbent upon all of us in positions of leadership to speak out," said Democratic Party chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.

Instead, Sanders struck back defiantly on Tuesday, dismissing complaints about what happened in Nevada as "nonsense" and pointedly claiming that it was his backers who had not been treated with respect.

''Our campaign has held giant rallies all across this country, including in high crime areas, and there have been zero reports of violence," he said in response to the Nevada committee's charge.

"Our campaign of course believes in non-violent change and it goes without saying that I condemn any and all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals," Sanders continued.

But the candidate wasn't done. He went on at length and in detail to describe how the delegate process is being railroaded by the party to benefit Clinton.

Party leaders deny this. But Sanders was having none of it Tuesday.

"The Democratic leadership used its power to prevent a fair and transparent process from taking place," he said.

"It is imperative that the Democratic leadership, both nationally and in the states, understand that the political world is changing and that millions of Americans are outraged at establishment politics and establishment economics," he said.

Sanders is widely expected to win in Oregon, where 61 delegates are at stake.

Presumtive Republican nominee Donald Trump won the Kentucky GOP primary on March 5. With no competition in Oregon, Trump is expected to walk off with all 28 of the delegates at stake in that contest, although Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich remain on the ballot.

- Developing story.

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