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Sanders wins Ind. democrat presidential primary

Sanders wins Indiana democrat president primary
Posted at 9:14 PM, May 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-04 00:03:36-04

Bernie Sanders (Sen. – Vermont) has won Indiana’s primary election for democratic presidential nominee, multiple national news outlets project.

Data curated by InsideGov

The race was called while Sanders held a 53%-47% lead with 30,000+ votes more than former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

VOTES | Latest Indiana election results 

Sanders, who has been considered the underdog to Clinton, put together an aggressive advertising campaign and several visits to the Hoosier State to get more votes behind him.

Most notably, Sanders appeared at a rally for Carrier workers, 2,100 of which will lose their jobs beginning next year after the company decided to relocate two plants to Monterrey, Mexico.

Sanders has used Carrier as a talking point at many of his speaking events across the country, holding it up as an example for his appeal to the working class and union-base.

READ MORE | Carrier workers rally at statehouse, Bernie Sanders speaks

The union that represents Carrier’s workers endorsed Sanders as their choice for president.

Sanders made himself available for several one-on-one discussions with RTV6 and hosted a rally on Monument Circle in the closing hours of campaigning in advance of Indiana’s Primary to increase his visibility.

WATCH | Bernie Sanders speaks in Indianapolis

Clinton, meanwhile, spent next to nothing on the state, only visiting twice and using her husband, former president Bill Clinton, and daughter Chelsea Clinton as extensions of her campaign.

Clinton is still considered the front-runner, but with this victory, Sanders closes the gap heading into the next nine states, including the very-important California primary.

Sanders said Tuesday that his primary bid against Clinton was far from over, pointing to his victory in Indiana and strength in upcoming races as a sign of his durability in the presidential campaign.

"I know that the Clinton campaign thinks this campaign is over. They're wrong," Sanders said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from New Albany, Indiana. "Maybe it's over for the insiders and the party establishment but the voters today in Indiana had a different idea."

Sanders spoke to The AP after he defeated Clinton in Indiana's primary, predicting that he would achieve "more victories in the weeks to come" in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon and California. The Vermont senator acknowledged that he faced an "uphill climb" to the Democratic nomination but said he was "in this campaign to win and we are going to fight until the last vote is cast."

Sanders' win in Indiana likely won't make much of a dent in Clinton's lead of more than 300 pledged delegates. Clinton is still more than 90 percent of the way to clinching the Democratic nomination when the count includes superdelegates, the elected officials and party leaders who are free to support the candidate of their choice.

Sanders said in the interview that he would be the best-positioned Democrat to take on Republican Donald Trump, who is now the likely Republican nominee after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz dropped out of the race. "There is nothing more I would like than to take on and defeat Donald Trump, someone who must never become president of this country."

Sanders said he wants to debate Clinton in California later this month, noting that both campaigns had reached an agreement in principle to hold the forum in the nation's largest state.

 

Data curated by InsideGov

 

Data curated by InsideGov

 

More on our complete Carrier coverage here.