Dozens of first-time volunteers showed up at campaign events. Voters who had previously been unengaged answered texts from the campaign for the first time. Infrequent volunteers committed to more phone banking and canvassing shifts. And in East Las Vegas — where the campaign’s office focused on Latino voters, a group the president had struggled to connect with — 12 voters walked in and volunteered on the spot.

Without a caucus to run — which requires significant money and time — and with an uncompetitive primary, Biden’s staff can focus exclusively on building out a volunteer operation and testing their messaging early into the cycle.

On Caucus Day, precinct chairs opened the covers on the party-purchased iPads they had been assigned to reveal a browser-based Google Form tool, which they used to step-by-step report the results from in-person attendees and reveal the results from early voters. Precinct chairs who had been fretting for days about whether it was all going to work were pleasantly surprised.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders emerged from Saturday’s caucus not only with 47.1 percent support but a 26 percentage point lead over his next closest competitor, former Vice President Joe Biden. Political observers in Nevada anticipated a Sanders win, but they didn’t anticipate exactly how much he would win by.

The line of Democrats at Sierra Vista High School Saturday morning snaked through the cafeteria, across the quad, out the front gate and to the parking lot. For some who had hoped to quickly cast their early ballots for the Democratic presidential caucus and get on with their weekend, it was frustrating. Others took it in stride.

Democratic presidential hopefuls pocketed more than half a million dollars in itemized contributions from Nevadans in the third quarter of the year as they prepare for a final push ahead of the early nominating contests in February.

The formula for winning Las Vegas — and the other quarter of the state’s residents in northern and rural Nevada — is straightforward: Get here early, build connections with the community, maybe persuade a politically powerful union to endorse them and send out foot soldiers on their behalf and, above all else, hold those house parties, knock those doors and make those phone calls.