Clinton beats Sanders in Democratic Nevada caucuses

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has narrowly defeated her rival, Bernie Sanders, in the Nevada caucuses.

"I am so thrilled and so grateful to all my supporters out there," Clinton said in her victory speech in Nevada on Saturday. "Some may have doubted us but we never doubted each other. This one is for you."

Clinton won over Bernie Sanders with 52 percent of the vote compared to Sanders’s 48 percent with roughly 81 percent of precincts reporting.

Officially conceding Nevada’s win to Clinton, Sanders said in a statement, "I am very proud of the campaign we ran. Five weeks ago we were 25 points behind and we ended up in a very close election. And we probably will leave Nevada with a solid share of the delegates.”

Clinton, stressing issues important to minority voters such as criminal justice reform, said she was running "a campaign to break down every barrier that holds you back."

"If we listen to the voices of Flint and Ferguson, if we open our hearts to the families of coal country and Indian country, if we listen to the hopes and heartaches of hardworking people across America, it's clear that there is so much more to be done," she said.

"The truth is, we aren't a single issue country. We need more than a plan for the big banks, the middle class needs a raise and we need more jobs."

The former secretary of state lost the previous vote in New Hampshire but won the Iowa caucuses by a razor-thin margin.

The two candidates now go to South Carolina for a primary scheduled on February 27.

Meanwhile, voters on Saturday headed to the polls in South Carolina for the Republican presidential primary. The billionaire business mogul, Donald Trump, remains the clear favorite with Ted Cruz closely catching up.

Trump had finished second to Cruz in the Iowa caucuses, but he won the New Hampshire primary.

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