Trump, Clinton Take New York

NEW DELHI: Hillary Clinton clinched a decisive victory over Bernie Sanders in New York on Tuesday, ending Sanders’ recent winning streak and putting her on firm footing to win the Democrat nomination. Meanwhile, Donald Trump swept to victory in the state.

Appearing at a victory rally in Midtown Manhattan, Clinton said: “Tonight, the race for the Democratic nomination is in the home stretch and victory is in sight.” Clinton also took an opportunity to reach out to Bernie Sanders’ supporters, saying, ““I believe there is much more that unites us than divides us.”

At the time of writing, with almost 100 percent of the votes tallied, Clinton was winning everywhere -- 20 points ahead in Kings County, which covers Brooklyn, and 39 points ahead in the Bronx, which has the highest proportion of black voters in the city. In Manhattan, Clinton led by 32 points, by 21 points in multicultural Queens and by seven points in Staten Island. Sanders, who comes from Brooklyn, lost in his home block by 36 votes to 19.

However, in some good news for Sanders, the Vermont senator won in rural areas. Exit polls had also suggested that Sanders polls well with under-40s and white men, although Clinton’s appeal amongst older voters, women, and black and Latino supporters still placed her in the lead.

New York was always going to be hard -- albeit important -- for Sanders. The Vermont senator, statistically, performs best with independents, and New York being a closed primary worked against him as 30 percent of the state, i.e. 3 million voters registered as independents, were unable to vote. Sanders acknowledged this fact when he said, “Today, three million people in the state of New York who are Independents have lost their right to vote in the Democratic and Republican primaries… That’s wrong. You’re paying for this election. It’s administered by the state. You have a right to vote. That’s a very unfortunate thing which I hope will change.”

Sanders has an uphill task ahead of him, as although he has been consistently closing in on Clinton in the national polls, Clinton has the superdelegate backing that Sanders lacks. In fact, a NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey released Monday has Clinton at 50% support to Sanders' 48% -- down from Clinton's nine-point advantage in the same poll one month ago.

Even though the New York primary results are a harsh loss for Sanders, his supporters are determined to carry on. For many, by virtue of just being in the race, Sanders has achieved what needed to be achieved -- bringing substance to the Democrat presidential race and pushing Clinton a tad more to the left. "It's also a success for Hillary because having Hillary come closer to the heart of the Democratic Party instead of being further out toward the center or toward the right, is going to help her become a stronger candidate come November," Mohammad Khan, a 30-year-old Sanders supporter from Queens, told Business Insider.

The loss, however, makes Sanders task of winning the nomination all the more difficult, if not impossible. Entering New York, Sanders needed to win 57 percent of the remaining pledged delegates to emerge with a majority by the convention. Therefore, Sanders had to win the rest of the race by roughly a margin of 57 to 43. Having lost New York by roughly that margin, Sanders’ burden in the remaining states grows even greater: He might now need 58 or 59 percent of the remaining delegates -- making decisive wins in the upcoming primaries all the more important.



For the Republicans, New York delivered a decisive victory to local Donald Trump, who defeated Ted Cruz, the Texas senator whose brand of conservatism didn’t appeal to New Yorkers, and Ohio governor John Kasich, who struggled to make an impact.

With over 95% of the vote counted, Trump was on 60%, with Kasich on 25.2% and Cruz trailing with just 14.8%.

Addressing a crowd at the iconic Trump Tower in Manhattan, the real estate mogul said, “It’s just incredible… I guess we’re close to 70%, and we’re gonna end at a very high level, and get a lot more delegates than anybody projected, even in their wildest imagination.”

Trump led in four of the five boroughs of New York City. However, on his home turf of Manhattan, Kasich was slightly ahead, 45%-43%, after almost 100% of the vote had been counted. In Queens, where Trump grew up, he was firmly ahead with 67%. In Kings County, Trump led with 67%; in Richmond Country he had 81%; in the Bronx he took a 52 point lead over Kasich; and Trump also clinched upstate.

Despite his win, Trump like Sanders, hit out at the system. “Nobody can take an election away with the way they’re doing it in the Republican party. And by the way, I am no fan of Bernie, but I’ve seen Bernie win, win, win and they say he has no chance of winning. They have the superdelegates; the Republican system is worse.”

After Trump’s speech, Paul Manafort, who has in effect taken charge of Trump’s campaign, said: “He’s saying the system is rigged, and the system is rigged. It’s rigged in all 50 states where they have different rules that don’t take into account modern political presidential campaigns. We’re not complaining about the rules, we’re saying the people don’t understand that when they vote, they’re not necessarily voting for him.”

Both Trump and Clinton -- frontrunners for the Republicans and Democrats, respectively -- have had a challenging few weeks, with their decisive leads questioned. Clinton suffered a string of losses to Sanders -- with Sanders, prior to New York, winning seven of the last eight nominating contests. Superdelegates, however, remained behind Clinton -- with, prior to New York, Sanders having 1,068 total delegates, including 31 super delegates, while Clinton still lead with 1,756 delegates, 469 of whom are superdelegates.

For Trump, the race is still tight as even though he leads with 845 delegates, ahead of Cruz with 559 and Kasich with 147, recent losses in Wisconsin and Wyoming have put his nomination in jeopardy.

If in July, Trump doesn’t secure the target, he faces the prospect of a contested Republican convention in Cleveland, in which his delegates will be freed in a second ballot to vote for a different candidate.

The win in New York, therefore, has been crucial for both Trump and Clinton.