Welcome to the fifth and final Super Tuesday of this primary election season. This has been a long and arduous haul for all candidates except for Donald Trump, who’s still having one hell of a great time. After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, he opted not to adopt a more presidential tone. Instead, he swiftly embarrassed the establishment Republicans right after gaining the endorsement of Paul Ryan. That’s a classic Trump move, yet the party seems surprised.
All the while, Hillary Clinton has been plucking up delegates to add to her superdelegate stash. On Monday, she crossed the 2,382 threshold to clinch the Democratic nomination. The timing didn’t please Senator Bernie Sanders, who refused to acknowledge a nominee until the July convention. He also feels that it’s wrong to declare a presumptive nominee based upon a tally that includes 500 superdelegates, who act regardless of the people’s will.
On this election Tuesday, six states — California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota — will bring their selections to the table. Who will win these states, and does it matter? Sure it does. Sanders needs to justify his promise to contest the convention.
Democratic State/Territory Wins Before Tuesday
Clinton: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Sanders: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Democratic Delegate Tally
Clinton: 2382 total delegates (1812 pledged and 571 superdelegates)
Sanders: 1569 total delegates (1521 pledged and 48 superdelegates)
Here are Tuesday’s election results. We’ll include Trump’s percentages just for kicks and will keep updating as the evening progresses. Primary season is almost over, folks.
California
Rep: Trump (78%) dances with himself.
Dem: Clinton (56%) takes an early lead and holds on against Sanders (43%). This was a high-stakes, brutal loss for him.
Montana
Rep: Trump (72%) wins against no one. He’s winning so hard.
Dem: Sanders (51%) eventually prevails over Clinton (49%).
New Jersey
Rep: Trump (81%) keeps on coasting
Dem: Clinton (64%) scores the night’s first victory over Sanders (36%).
New Mexico
Rep: Trump (73%) proves he’s winning, still.
Dem: Clinton (53%) takes another win over Sanders (47%).
North Dakota Caucus
Dem: Sanders (66%) nabs his only solid win over Clinton (27%).
South Dakota
Rep: Trump (67%) didn’t exactly score well for a presumptive nominee.
Dem: Clinton (51%) pulled off a squeaker against Sanders (49%)
Once the results started rolling in, so did the speeches. Donald Trump took a stab at a teleprompted, “presidential” speech, and Hillary Clinton declared herself the presumptive Democratic nominee. Much later, Sanders finally took the mic after it was clear that he lost four out of six states, including California. Although this speech was much shorter than usual, he did not concede or drop out of the race. Instead, the Bern vowed to win Washington D.C. next week and contest the convention: “The struggle continues.”