Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton moved closer Tuesday
to what will almost surely be her nomination as the Democratic candidate
for president.
With most of the votes counted from a primary in the state of
Kentucky, Clinton led Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders by about 2,000
votes. Election officials said they would not yet declare a winner, but
Clinton claimed victory.
The final result is of little importance since the Democrats award
delegates proportionally and the two candidates will end up splitting
the ones from Kentucky almost evenly.
In another race Tuesday, Sanders won the primary in the northwestern state of Oregon.
Going forward, Sanders would need to win about 85 percent of the
remaining delegates in order to surpass Clinton and win the nomination.
He was won only one state by that margin so far, and that was Vermont.
The Democrats have contests on June 4 in the Virgin Islands and June 5
in Puerto Rico. There are not enough delegates at stake in those
contests for Clinton to clinch the nomination, but she is expected to do
so on June 7 when six states vote.
The Democratic nominee will face Republican candidate Donald Trump in the November general election.
An NBC News/Survey Monkey poll Tuesday showed Clinton with a narrow
national edge over Trump, 48 to 45 percent, down from a five-point
margin a week ago.
An average of several polls shows Clinton leading Trump by about six
points, with Sanders doing even better with a 13-point advantage over
Trump.