Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in Nebraska.
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Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in West Virginia’s Democratic primary Tuesday, while Donald Trump, with no remaining challengers, claimed an easy victory there and in Nebraska among Republicans.
“Let me be as clear as I can be, we are in this campaign to win the Democratic nomination”, Sanders said, pointing to upcoming primaries in Oregon, Kentucky, and California.
That means he picks up 15 delegates, while Clinton gets 11.
Earlier Tuesday, Sanders won the Democratic primary in West Virginia. Even with his win there, Sanders did little to move the needle substantially against Clinton. When the so-called super delegates are added to the count, Clinton has 2,224 delegates, a short distance to the 2,383 needed to secure the Democratic nomination.
An ABC News analysis of preliminary exit polling showed, er, huge excitement among GOP voters about a Trump presidency, and “9 in 10 in West Virginia, and more than 8 in 10 in Nebraska, think it’s likely Trump would beat Clinton in November”.
More than half of voters in both West Virginia primaries say the economy is the top issue facing the country.
There was also a competitive Democratic gubernatorial primary Tuesday – and no Republican one – so Trump voters might have turned out for that and then weighed in on the presidential ballot line while they were at it. Wins in the Republican primaries in West Virginia and Nebraska, where polls close later in the evening, would bring him ever closer to the 1,237 delegates he needs to officially close out the nomination. Marco Rubio said he will honor the pledge he signed to support his party’s nominee, even if it’s Trump, but that his oft-spoken “reservations” about the billionaire’s positions “are well documented and remain”.
Among his backers in the state was Don Fricke, a 76-year-old dentist from Lincoln. “They want real change”.
“I feel confident that Hillary will be the nominee and I feel confident she’ll be the next president”, Biden told ABC News.
“We now have won primaries and caucuses in 19 states”, Sanders was reported as saying at another rally in Oregon.
ABC News also projected Donald Trump the victor of the Nebraska Republican primary.
Trump’s victory in IN last Tuesday prompted his two remaining Republican rivals, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich, to drop out of the race, clearing the way for the businessman to claim his party’s nomination.
Clinton did win the Nebraska Democratic vote on Tuesday night, but those results were non-binding.
Polls closed in West Virginia at 7.30pm EST (12.30pm NZT) and in Nebraska, where only the Republicans are voting, the polls close at 9pm EST (2pm NZT).
Generally speaking, Sanders has outperformed Clinton in caucus states, while Clinton has done better in primary states.
Meanwhile, Trump told supporters in Charleston last week that they need not vote on Tuesday – a comment that DiClerico said won’t make Trump’s would-be Republican allies “further down in the ticket particularly happy”. “It’s the most important job that any of us can do, and we’re making it really hard and really expensive”.
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Those are among the findings from exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research.
