By Michael Sol Warren
BU News Service
The underdogs had themselves a day at the polls in America’s Dairyland.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz won the Wisconsin Republican primary election and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders took the Democratic race. Both triumphed over the party front runners, New York business man Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton respectively.
Cruz won the GOP race handily, taking 48 percent of the vote to Trump’s 35 percent, and he did so by dominating Milwaukee, Green Bay and Madison, the state’s three largest cities. Ohio Governor John Kasich finished third with fourteen percent.
The results gave Cruz 33 delegates and Trump three delegates. Kasich did not win any delegates.
Trump currently leads the G.O.P. primary with 740 delegates. Cruz is in second with 514 delegates, and Kasich is in third with 143 delegates. A candidate needs 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination before the party’s convention.
On the Democratic side, Sanders took down Clinton 56 percent to 43 percent. It was a major victory for a candidate who needs to maintain momentum as the race heads towards Clinton’s home state, New York. Sanders has now won seven of the past eight contests.
Sanders claimed 47 delegates while Clinton took home 36 delegates.
Clinton currently leads the Democratic race with 1,279 delegates. Sanders trails with 1,027 delegates. A candidate needs 2,383 delegates to clinch the nomination.
The next stop on the primary trail will be the Wyoming Democratic caucus on April 9. Then, both parties will face major tests in New York on April 19.
Delegate counts in this article only reflect pledged delegates. Unpledged “superdelegates” are not included because they can change their vote at any point before their party’s primary.
