Sanders pulls off huge upset in Michigan, Trump takes Michigan and Mississippi
(from left) Moriah Ratner | Staff Photographer, Courtesy of Clinton Press
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won the state of Michigan in a big upset against opponent and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In a stunning upset win, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday by winning the primary in Michigan, a state Clinton was expected to win.
Meanwhile, business mogul Donald Trump continued building momentum by winning primary races in Michigan and Mississippi.
The race between Clinton and Sanders in Michigan was close for most of the night, even though polls leading up to the election in Michigan showed Clinton winning by huge margins. According to FiveThirtyEight’s polls-plus forecast, Clinton had more than a 99 percent chance of winning the Michigan primary before Tuesday.
With 166 delegates at stake in the two Democratic contests, Sanders won 63 in Michigan and just above 50 percent of the vote. Clinton earned 28 delegates in Mississippi, which she won in a landslide, and 53 in Michigan.
Still, Clinton has a huge delegate lead with 1,215 delegates to Sanders’ 566.
On the Republican side, Trump has won 14 states with victories in Michigan and Mississippi. He now has 428 total delegates, as of 12 a.m. EST on Wednesday.
“This was an amazing evening. I don’t think I’ve ever had so many horrible things said about me in one week,” Trump said in his victory speech in Jupiter, Florida. “It shows you how brilliant the public is because they knew they were lies.”
At the Trump event in Jupiter, journalists noted that Trump had branded steaks, wine and water.
With 44 percent of the precincts reporting in Idaho as of 12 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is in the lead with 42 percent of the vote. Polls in Hawaii do not close until 1 a.m. EST.
Cruz is trailing behind with 327 total delegates as of 12 a.m. on Wednesday, while Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have 151 and 67 delegates, respectively, according to The New York Times.
In the GOP race, a candidate needs 1,237 delegates to get the nomination.
On Sunday, Trump won in Louisiana and Kentucky — picking up 35 delegates — while Cruz claimed victories in Maine and Kansas.
On March 15, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio will hold the next round of big primary contests for both Democrats and Republicans.
Published on March 9, 2016 at 12:48 am
Contact Rachel: rsandler@syr.edu
