Bernie Sanders' Oregon win not nearly enough to reshape delegate landscape
Sanders managed to net a slight delegate gain on Hillary Clinton on Tuesday but would need to win nearly 90% in remaining contests to have shot at nomination
Unlike in the votes that took place last week, there was a sizable number of delegates available in the Democratic primaries that were held in Kentucky and Oregon on Tuesday. But the wins for Bernie Sanders in Oregon and Hillary Clinton in Kentucky still ultimately don’t change much. Because primary season has slowed to a tortoise race, the frontrunners (Republicans also voted, in Oregon) simply inched a little closer to the finish line.
Donald Trump now needs only 135 more delegates to secure the Republican party nomination, and Clinton – assuming she can count on the support of superdelegates – is a mere 92 delegates away from becoming the Democratic nominee.
But Clinton is still fighting for her wins. In Kentucky, the former secretary of state finished the night with 47% of the vote, and an additional 27 delegates as a result. However, Sanders was such a close second (with fewer than 2,000 votes between the two candidates, he ended the night only half a percentage point behind Clinton) that he too managed to pick up 27 delegates.
Kentucky’s results represent a dramatic change for Clinton compared to her popularity here eight years ago. In the 2008 Kentucky Democratic primary, Clinton got almost half a million votes – 66% of everyone who cast a ballot – while Barack Obama got 30%. (Kentucky already held its Republican caucus on 5 March; Trump came first with 36% of the vote.)
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/18/democratic-delegate-race-sanders-clinton-oregon-kentucky
