Illinois Primary Results: Clinton Narrowly Leads Sanders; Trump Takes GOP Race

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 16, 2016 4:00AM

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talks with Rev. Jesse Jackson during a visit to the Kids Off the Block memorial on March 14, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. Hillary Clinton visited the Kids Off the Block memorial that pays tribute to children that were killed by gun violence. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Hillary Clinton is narrowly leading in the Illinois democratic primary against Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who, despite drawing a crowd of thousands to a rally in Chicago Monday evening, hasn't closed the 1 to 2 percentage point gap between him and the native Illinoisian. With over 95 percent of polls reporting in, Clinton led Sanders 50.4 percent to 48.8.

"We are moving closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in November," Clinton said at a campaign rally in Miami, according to the Tribune. Sanders, who is likely to win Missouri tonight, told supporters at a rally in Phoenix:

"The reason we have done as well as we have, the reason we have defied all expectations is that we are doing something very radical in American politics — we're telling the truth."

Although he cancelled his high-profile Chicago rally at the last minute last week, bad man and frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination Donald Trump won the Illinois primary. With 40 percent of precincts reporting, Trump had 40 percent of the vote, according to the Tribune. Meanwhile, Ted Cruz had 27 percent, John Kasich had 21 percent, and Marco Rubio had just 9 percent. (After losing the primary in Florida tonight—to be clear, that's the state where Rubio is a Senator—Rubio suspended his campaign.)

"After tonight, it is clear that while we are on the right side, this year, we will not be on the winning side," Rubio told his supporters in Miami. In what became a rambling speech turned into a prayer, he also said that if the "descendants of immigrants and exiles" lost the idea they were "destined for more," "we’ll still be rich, and we’ll still be powerful, but we will no longer be special."

Kasich, meanwhile, celebrated his lone Ohio victory, trying to paint himself as a unifying candidate in the face of Trump's divisive rhetoric. “You’d better believe it’s about pulling us together, not pulling us apart,” he said, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

The Illinois primary has had several interesting elections to watch, with Kim Foxx beating incumbent Anita Alvarez for Cook County State's Attorney(a win many view as a referendum on police accountability in Chicago in the wake of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by police), and more.