Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won four out of five primary contests on Tuesday night, effectively closing the narrow pathway that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) still had open in his bid to win the Democratic nomination.
With nearly all the votes counted, Clinton picked up resounding victories in the delegate-heavy states of Maryland and Pennsylvania, winning by 30 points and 12 points respectively. She also won Delaware by 20 points, and picked up a smaller win in Connecticut by 5 points, netting roughly 60 pledged delegates in total on the night.
Although Clinton is still short of the 2,383 delegates needed to win the nomination, the Sanders campaign appeared to recognize it is facing an insurmountable lead. It released a statement late Tuesday that made no mention of a strategy to still win the Democratic nomination.
“[T]his campaign is going to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia with as many delegates as possible to fight for a progressive party platform,” the campaign stated, running down a list of proposals that should be adopted. Those included a “$15 an hour minimum wage, an end to our disastrous trade policies, a Medicare-for-all health care system, breaking up Wall Street financial institutions, ending fracking in our country, making public colleges and universities tuition free and passing a carbon tax so we can effectively address the planetary crisis of climate change.”
Sanders said this would be a winning strategy, noting that his only win on Tuesday night was in Rhode Island–a state with an open primary that allows independent voters a chance to participate. He has outperformed Clinton in many open primaries and caucuses this campaign.
“Democrats should recognize that the ticket with the best chance of winning this November must attract support from independents as well as Democrats,” Sanders noted. “I am proud of my campaign’s record in that regard.”
In a speech celebrating her string of victories, Clinton made an appeal to those still supporting her Democratic opponent, who she will need to bring on board for the general election. “Whether you support Sen. Sanders or you support me, there’s much more that unites us than divides us,” she said.
Clinton’s presumed GOP opponent in the general election, Donald Trump, also fared well on Tuesday night. He won all five contests by wide margins, and picked up more than 100 delegates on the night, renewing hope that he can secure his party’s nomination before the Republican National Convention, which will be held in Cleveland this July.
But Trump still needs to nab roughly 300 delegates by then to prevent a contested convention–one that could see the nomination handed to a candidate with fewer delegates and votes, like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) or Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio).
Trump, however, claimed on Tuesday that he has wrapped up the race already. “I consider myself the presumptive nominee,” he told reporters. “As far as I am concerned it’s over.”
The campaigns head to Indiana next, which holds its primary on May 3.
