June 8, 2016

Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, speaks at a victory rally at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City on June 7, 2016.
Credit: © Krista Kennell, Shutterstock

Yesterday, primary and caucus voters in six states—including delegate-rich California—pushed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton well beyond the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic Party’s nomination for president of the United States. Prior to those final state primaries (Washington, D.C., votes last, on June 14), Clinton had hit 2,383 delegates exactly, but 571 of those were superdelegates. As her Democratic opponent, Bernie Sanders, has often pointed out, superdelegates vote the way they want to, regardless of their home state’s choice, and they can potentially change their mind. On Tuesday, Clinton won the vote in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota (Sanders edged her out in Montana and North Dakota). The wins gave Clinton a commanding delegate lead of 2,755 to Sanders’s 1,852. In theory, a massive superdelegate switch could still bail out Sanders, but the odds of that happening are slim.

All the delegate counting and “politics” of the lengthy campaign nearly swallowed up one very important fact: Hillary Clinton will now become the first woman ever nominated by a major party for president of the United States. Clinton first entered the national political scene as first lady in the 1990’s. She then represented New York in the U.S. Senate from 2001 until 2009, when she became secretary of state, a position she held until 2013. And, of course, there was her presidential run in 2008, when she finished second to a skyrocketing Barack Obama. Clinton is no newcomer to the political stage, but that should not lessen the significance of her historic achievement. Her nomination will become official at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia at the end of next month.

With Sanders (mostly) in the rear-view mirror, Clinton now sets her sights squarely on her next opponent, the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump. The U.S. presidential election takes place on Tuesday, November 8.

May 4, 2016

Yesterday, May 3, Indiana citizens voted in one of the year’s later presidential primaries. The late date of the primary gave it a certain amount of weight, despite the relatively low number of delegates at stake. Presidential candidates have been rolling up delegates for months now, and Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump have established firm leads. Clinton lost to rival Bernie Sanders yesterday, but Sanders remains a long shot to overtake Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Trump’s campaign, however, took a huge leap in Indiana, where Hoosier Republicans handed him the primary on a platter. The results forced Republican Ted Cruz out of the race, all but guaranteeing Trump that party’s nomination.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz ended his presidential campaign on May 3, 2016.
Credit: Peter Stevens (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

Republican Ted Cruz, trailing Trump by about 500 delegates, put his last best effort into Indiana. He hoped his ultra-Conservative brand would inspire religious voters to lean his way. He hoped the “stop Trump” campaign would sway voters toward him as the only Trump alternative. He hoped his last-ditch swipes at Trump would teeter fence-sitting Republicans to fall his way. He hoped that the naming of Carly Fiorina as his prospective running mate might pull people to his side. Cruz may have convinced some undecided people to vote for him, but it was not enough, and his effort was in vain. A strong majority of Republican voters—some 54 percent—stuck with Trump, who won the state’s 57 delegates.

The Indiana victory gave Trump 1,053 delegates, just 184 short of the Republican nomination goal of 1,237. With Cruz’s numbers flagging in other states, particularly in delegate-rich California (among the final primaries on June 7), the reality of his campaign’s chances became impossible to ignore. Cruz just wasn’t going to catch up. As enough results came in to make the end clear, Cruz stood sorrowfully behind a microphone and told his supporters it was all over, that he was dropping out of the race. “Together we left it all on the field in Indiana,” he said. “We gave it everything we’ve got. But the voters chose another path.”

Jan. 11, 2012

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney handily won yesterday’s New Hampshire Republican presidential primary election with 39.2 percent of the vote. Texas Congressman Ron Paul placed second with 22.9 percent; in the Iowa caucuses on January 3, Paul came in a close third with 21.4 percent. After taking just 0.6 percent of the vote in Iowa, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman garnered 16.9 percent in New Hampshire. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum essentially tied for fourth place in New Hampshire with approximately 10 percent. In Iowa, Santorum came in second, just eight votes behind front runner Romney. Governor Rick Perry of Texas, who did not campaign in New Hampshire, trailed yesterday with only 1 percent of the vote; he took 10.3 percent of the total in Iowa.

Former Massachsetts Governor Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary election on January 10. Abby Brack, Romney for President, Inc.

The next Republican presidential primary is in South Carolina on January 21, followed by Florida on January 31. Political experts predict Romney will have the nomination sewed up after the Florida vote.

Additional World Book articles

• Congress of the United States
• President of the United States