Tuesday night’s Indiana primary came with more than a few surprises. In addition to candidates dropping like flies on the Republican side, Bernie Sanders won the state against Hillary Clinton. The underdog candidate therefore stays in the race with a chance, however slight, of overtaking Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
In Indiana, Sanders led Clinton 53 percent to 47 percent, according to Politico. “I know that the Clinton campaign thinks this campaign is over. They’re wrong,” Sanders said in an interview with the Associated Press. “Maybe it’s over for the insiders and the party establishment but the voters today in Indiana had a different idea.” The AP reported that the Vermont senator thinks that he has even more victories to come, including in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon and California.
The political revolution wins in Indiana! Thank you. pic.twitter.com/Ix7wutAw2g
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 4, 2016
Tuesday night left Sanders with 1,410 delegates, as compared to Clinton’s 1,700 delegates (not including superdelegates). In order to win the nomination, one of them needs to obtain 2,383 delegates or get voted in at the Democratic national convention this summer in Philadelphia.
For Sanders, winning the nomination would be a challenge. According to CNN, he needs more delegates than are left to win—meaning he needs to change the minds and support of superdelegates. Clinton has 520 superdelegates to Sanders’ 39, but they may change their candidate at any time.
“It’s an uphill fight for us. But you know what? I started this campaign 60 points behind Secretary Clinton. We’ve been fighting uphill from day one,” Sanders said in an interview with CNN. “We will continue to fight uphill and I think we still have a narrow path toward victory.”
With Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropping out of the race, the presidential election has come down to just three candidates: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Now it’s a race to the main competition for Sanders and Clinton to see who will compete with, and hopefully win against “The Donald.”