Sen. Bernie Sanders was projected to win the Alaska and Washington Democratic presidential caucuses -- victories he hopes will spark a Western states comeback and help him cut into frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s substantial lead. 
 
 The Associated Press projected Sanders the winner of both contests. The results of Saturday’s third presidential contest, the Hawaii Democratic Caucus, will not be announced until at least midnight. 
 
 "We knew things were going to improve as we headed west," Sanders said at a rally in Madison, Wis. "We are making significant inroads in ... Clinton's lead ... We have a path toward victory." 
 
 Clinton leads by roughly 300 pledged delegates, with 142 up for grabs Saturday. Washington had the biggest prize, 101 delegates, followed by Hawaii with 25 and Alaska with 16. 
 
 Sanders, a democratic socialist, on Saturday acknowledged his struggles in recent contests across the South, with its strong conservative voting bloc. But he remained optimistic about upcoming contests in the more liberal West including those in Oregon and California, which alone offers 546 delegates. 
 
 The next Democratic and Republican primaries are April 5 in Wisconsin. 
 
 2016 Election Headquarters The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Coverage → 
 
 Sanders is popular among younger and more progressive Americans but continues to struggle to connect with Hispanic and African-American voters. 
 
 He will win at least nine delegates in Alaska. And all of them are elected to the state Democratic convention, not the party's national nominating convention in July in Philadelphia. 
 
 Going into Saturday, Clinton had a 1,223-to-920 lead on Sanders in so-called pledged delegates, who are bound to candidates by their states' elections. 
 
 Data curated by InsideGov 
 
 It takes 2,383 delegates to clinch the nomination. 
 
 Sanders was expected to do well in Washington, considering residents of Seattle, the biggest city in the Pacific Northwest, are among the most liberal in the country and major campaign contributors. 
 
 He drew more than 10,000 supporters to a rally Friday evening at Safeco Field in Seattle. And by Saturday afternoon, the state appeared to be having a record voter turnout, which has helped keep alive Sanders’ insurgent campaign. 
 
 In Spokane, a huge line of caucus attendees had already snaked around a high school parking by Saturday morning. 
 
 "I think one of the biggest things is free tuition for students and getting big money out of politics," said Savannah Dills, 24, a college student who supports Sanders. "He's not paid for by billionaires." 
 
 Top Sanders adviser Ted Devine recently told FoxNews.com that he was optimistic about the campaign cutting Clinton’s lead this weekend to under 300 delegates “with a couple of thousands more delegates to go.” 
 
 Most of the Washington’s Democratic leadership had endorsed Clinton, including Gov. Jay Inslee, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. 
 
 Still, Sanders entered Saturday’s contests optimistic after winning more delegate than Clinton in three contests earlier this week -- nearly 20 in the Idaho and Utah caucuses, despite losing the marquee Arizona primary to the former secretary of state. 
 
 Sanders has done significantly better in caucus contests, now winning nine of the last 11. 
 
 Most of his 14 primary-season wins have been in states with largely white populations and in the caucus contests, which tend to attract the most active liberal Democrats. 
 
 Yet Sanders still needs a dramatic surge to catch Clinton or even hold her under the number needed to clinch the nomination, despite the optimism and fundraising numbers, which also include collecting more than $140 million from 2 million donors. 
 
 Clinton did not hold a public event after the Alaska and Washington results were announced. 
 
 While Sanders faces a steep climb to the nomination, a string of losses for Clinton would highlight her persistent vulnerabilities, including concerns about her trustworthiness and weak support among younger voters. 
 
 Clinton’s delegate advantage, before Saturday, increases to 1,692-to-949 once the superdelegates, or party officials who can back either candidate, are included. 
 
 Based on that count, Sanders still needs to win 58 percent of the remaining delegates from primaries and caucuses to have a majority of those delegates by June's end. 
 
 His bar is even higher when the party officials are considered. He needs to win more than 67 percent of the remaining delegates overall -- from primaries, caucuses and the ranks of uncommitted superdelegates -- to prevail. 
 
 Because Democrats allocate their delegates on a proportional basis, meaning that the popular vote loser can still pick up a share, his Saturday victories netted Sanders a gain of at least 27 delegates to at least five for Clinton. 
 
 Clinton has been looking past the primary contests and aiming at potential Republican challengers. In interviews, rallies and speeches this week, she largely focused on Tuesday's deadly attacks in Brussels, casting GOP front-runner Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as unqualified to deal with complicated international threats. 
 
 Her campaign sees the April 19 contest in New York as an important one, not just because of the rich delegate prize but because losing to Sanders in a state she represented in the Senate would be a psychological blow. She hopes to lock up an even larger share of delegates in five Northeastern contests a week later. 
 
 Fox News’ Lauren Blanchard and Joseph Weber and The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| Laura Schleyer, a supporter of Bernie Sanders, mingles with other voters at a caucus site in Olympia, Wash., Saturday, March 26, 2016. Democrats caucused statewide in support of either Hillary Clinton... (Associated Press) 
 
 Laura Schleyer, a supporter of Bernie Sanders, mingles with other voters at a caucus site in Olympia, Wash., Saturday, March 26, 2016. Democrats caucused statewide in support of either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders scored three wins in Western caucus contests Saturday, giving a powerful psychological boost to his supporters but doing little to move him closer to securing the Democratic nomination. 
 
 While results in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii barely dented Hillary Clinton's significant delegate lead, Sanders' wins underscored her persistent vulnerabilities within her own party, particularly with young voters and liberal activists who have been inspired by her rival's unapologetically liberal message. 
 
 In an interview with The Associated Press, Sanders cast his performance as part of a Western comeback, saying he expects to close the delegate gap with Clinton as the contest moves to the more liberal northeastern states, including her home state of New York. He also said his campaign is increasing its outreach to superdelegates, the party insiders who can pick either candidate, and are overwhelmingly with Clinton. 
 
 "The Deep South is a very conservative part of the country," he said. "Now that we're heading into a progressive part of the country, we expect to do much better." 
 
 He added: "There is a path to victory." With Clinton far in front, however, it is a difficult path. 
 
 Clinton anticipated the losses: She barely campaigned in the three states, making just one day of stops in Washington state, and was spending the Easter weekend with her family. 
 
 She is turning her focus to the April 19 contest in New York, seeking to win a large share of the delegates at stake and to avoid the blow of losing to Sanders in a state she represented in the Senate. She is trying to lock up an even larger share of delegates in five Northeastern contests a week later, hoping to deliver a big enough haul to unify the Democratic Party and relegate Sanders to little more than a protest candidate. 
 
 Sanders, who's found some success in the industrial Midwest, wants to leverage his working-class support and fiery arguments against free trade into an April 5 victory in delegate-rich Wisconsin. He also plans to compete fiercely in New York and is pushing for the party to schedule a debate in the state, saying in the interview that it would be "really absurd" if one did not take place. 
 
 After Sanders' two early wins in Washington and Alaska on Saturday, Clinton held a delegate lead of 1,234 to 956 over Sanders, according to an Associated Press analysis, an advantage that expands to 1,703-985 once the superdelegates are included. It takes 2,383 delegates to win. 
 
 Based on the AP count, Sanders needs to win more than 57 percent of the remaining delegates from primaries and caucuses to have a majority of those delegates by June's end. 
 
 His bar is even higher when the party officials are considered. He needs to win more than 67 percent of the remaining delegates overall — from primaries, caucuses and the ranks of uncommitted superdelegates — to prevail. 
 
 He was unlikely to emerge from his Saturday sweep with significantly more delegates, winning at least 36 delegates to Clinton's 11 for the day after his victories in Alaska and Washington. More are likely to be allocated to Sanders in several weeks, when Washington state Democratic party releases vote shares by district. Sixty-seven delegates are awarded based on results in the state's congressional districts. 
 
 But there's little question that Sanders has tapped into a powerful frustration within the party. He continues to attract tens of thousands to his rallies and has collected more than $140 million from 4.7 million donations. 
 
 Most of his 14 primary-season wins have been in states with largely white populations and in caucus contests, which tend to attract the most active liberal Democrats. He's heavily favored by younger voters, who were a key part of the coalition that boosted Barack Obama to victory twice. Clinton's ability to win the White House, should she capture the nomination, will hinge on how well she can motivate his passionate - and politically active - supporters. 
 
 In Spokane, Washington, a huge line of caucus attendees — largely Sanders backers — snaked around a high school parking lot Saturday morning. 
 
 "I think one of the biggest things is free tuition for students," said Savannah Dills, 24, a college student who supports Sanders. "And getting big money out of politics. He's not paid for by billionaires." 
 
 Retiree Dan McLay, 64, attended the caucus in a hard-hat, which he joked he needed because he was one of the relatively few Clinton supporters in the big crowd. 
 
 "Look at this thing in Brussels," McLay said, referring to the deadly attack in Belgium this week. "We need a real experienced leader." 
 
 It was strong support for Sanders that brought Kirsa Hughes-Skandijs out to her first caucus in Juneau, Alaska. 
 
 "This is the first time I've ever felt that kind of belief in a candidate, that they mean what they say and that they are not saying what they think people want to hear," she said. 
 
 ____ 
 
 Associated Press writers Nicholas K. Geranios, Walker Orenstein and Rachel La Corte in Washington state, Bryna Godar in Madison, Wisconsin, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, and Hope Yen in Washington contributed to this report.
– Bernie Sanders has won Saturday's caucuses in Alaska, Washington state, and Hawaii as he fights to gain ground on Hillary Clinton, reports the AP. Washington was Saturday's big prize with 101 delegates at stake, and Politico called a victory there "essential" to Sanders' campaign hopes. The delegates will be awarded proportionately and Sanders was headed toward a lopsided win—good news for him given that he trailed Clinton by more than 300 pledged delegates heading into the day. It's no surprise to see Sanders do well in Washington, notes Fox News. On Friday, he drew 10,000 to a rally in Seattle, one of the most liberal cities in the country. Seattle also leads the country in per-capita individual donations to Sanders—about $145 for every 100 people. The story was largely the same in Alaska, where Sanders had a lead of nearly 60 points with more than a third of precincts reporting. Analysts say the overwhelming whiteness of Alaska, which has 16 delegates up for grabs, favored Sanders. The final 25 delegates of the day came from Hawaii's caucuses. Throughout the campaign, Sanders has done better in caucuses than primaries. "The Deep South is a very conservative part of the country," he tells the AP. "Now that we're heading into a progressive part of the country, we expect to do much better. There is a path to victory." That path, the AP notes, is steep: After the first two wins Saturday, Clinton's delegate lead was 1,234 to 956 over Sanders, which widens considerably when superdelegates are included: 1,703 to 985.