Clinton aims for Kentucky win to break Sanders' momentum

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton sought to avoid primary losses in Kentucky and Oregon on Tuesday, aiming to blunt the momentum of challenger Bernie Sanders ahead of a likely general election matchup against Republican Donald Trump.

Clinton enters Tuesday's primaries with a commanding lead of nearly 300 pledged delegates over Sanders and a dominant advantage among party officials and elected leaders called superdelegates.

Democrats were holding primaries in Kentucky and Oregon as new questions over party unity emerged in the contest between Clinton and Sanders after a divisive weekend state party convention in Nevada put a spotlight on relations between the two sides.

During a party event in Las Vegas, supporters of Sanders tossed chairs and made death threats against the Nevada party chairwoman arguing the party leadership rigged the results of the convention in favor of Clinton.

In a sign of the tensions, Sanders issued a defiant statement dismissing complaints from Nevada Democrats as "nonsense" and said his supporters were not being treated with "fairness and respect."