Primary and caucus results continued rolling in this week on “Western Tuesday.” Idaho (Democratic only), Arizona, and Utah residents voted on who they thought should be the next President of the United States. With only two candidates for the Democrats and three for the Republicans, the race for the presidency getting narrower as we move closer to November every day. If you haven’t stayed caught up on your political news lately, here’s what you missed on “Western Tuesday”:
Clinton and Trump Keep On Winning
Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016
Unsurprisingly, the presidential frontrunners continue winning more and more delegates, outpacing their competition. According to the The New York Times, Donald Trump won in Arizona, taking all 58 of the state’s Republican delegates and adding to his lead over Cruz and Kasich. He now has 738 delegates (you need 1,237 to win the GOP nomination). Arizona, known for its issues with immigration, turned out to be an easy win for Trump’s “Let’s Build a Wall!” policy. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, known for aggressively arresting illegal immigrants, was one of Trump’s many supporters in the state.
Hillary Clinton won in Arizona, too, pushing her lead over Bernie even higher. The New York Times reported that Hillary captured 75 delegates in Arizona—she now has 1,223 of the 2,383 needed to win the nomination. Although that was her only win of the night, the state had far more Democratic delegates at stake than Idaho and Utah.
Clinton’s victory speech addressed Donald Trump instead of hitting Sanders, her competition in the primaries. “This is not just a contest between different candidates,” she said, according to CNN. “This is a contest between fundamentally different views of our country, our values and our futures.” CNN set Hillary’s odds of winning the nomination at 97 percent after last night—giving Clinton something to celebrate.
Bernie Sanders Isn’t Done Yet
Even though it is likely Hillary will get the nomination, the race isn’t over yet, folks. Bernie Sanders won the Idaho and Utah caucuses—He usually does much better in caucuses than in closed primary voting. “I’m not predicting victory, but I’m not predicting defeat, either,” Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver said, according to CNN. “We have a path to victory. It’s not an easy path, but it never has been an easy path.”
Cruz Picked Up Utah…and Jeb Bush
Ted Cruz easily won Utah’s caucuses with 69 percent of the vote, according to The New York Times. Utah is known for having many Mormon and other religious voters. Trump’s loss shows that he still hasn’t quite appealed to the heavily religious and conservative portions of the Republican party.
In addition to winning half of the states up for grabs for the GOP on Tuesday, Cruz picked up a powerful supporter: Jeb Bush. “Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests,” said Bush to CNN. “Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential.” After all of Trump’s bullying of poor Jeb, we’re not surprised he decided to support Ted Cruz a month after dropping out of the race.
Low energy Jeb Bush just endorsed a man he truly hates, Lyin’ Ted Cruz. Honestly, I can’t blame Jeb in that I drove him into oblivion!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016
Kasich Was Behind Everyone—Including People Who Dropped Out
Marco Rubio, who is no longer running, is beating John Kasich in Maricopa County. That’s early voting in full force pic.twitter.com/ocFLnpINRD
— Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) March 23, 2016
John Kasich, who remains in the presidential race with 143 delegates, didn’t win any states during “Western Tuesday.” What might have been sadder than not winning any states was that Kasich was behind Marco Rubio for a while in terms of votes from Arizona…even though Rubio dropped out of the race last week. CNN reported that Kasich is throwing his efforts into California, where a loss would probably end his campaign. Can the candidate stay in the race?
There Were Tons of Voters
Just after midnight… after 5-hour wait… voter casts final ballot in downtown Phoenix: https://t.co/nrEiEUmHHC @Ricardo_Cano1 #AZPrimary
— Amy B Wang (@amybwang) March 23, 2016
Apparently, the results weren’t the only headline in Arizona. A record number of voters showed up at polls, leading to chaos. According to AZ Central, hundreds of people were still in line to vote in Phoenix at 11 p.m.—four hours after polls closed. For voters who showed up at 7 p.m., some of the lines reached out over four blocks. Maricopa county, one of the largest in the state, had only “one site per every 21,000 voters,” allegedly because county officials wanted to save money. I don’t know about you, but to me a huge presidential election doesn’t seem like the best time to be cutting costs.
The Candidates Showed Their Support for Brussels
In the midst of Tuesday’s voting, a more tragic and much more important event occurred in Brussels, Belgium. At least 31 people had been confirmed dead, with nearly 200 injured, after multiple explosions went off in an airport and subway station there. The city has been shaken up by the deadly terror attacks, which ISIS (Daesh) claimed as their own doing. The world took notice of the event—and so did the candidates.
According to ABC News, Ted Cruz called for President Obama to return to America instead of “spending his time going to baseball games with the Castros.” Donald Trump also announced on Good Morning America that he would be taking ISIS out if he were president.
Similarly, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tweeted out and announced their solidarity with Brussels in the wake of the primaries.
Saturday holds three more Democratic caucuses, while Republican voting picks back up in Wisconsin on Tuesday. Happy Voting!