Over the weekend, Illinois Senator Barack Obama took the lead in the Democratic primaries with three victories yesterday, after narrowing New York Senator Hillary Clinton’s lead with victories in four states and the Virgin Islands this past weekend.
In the Republican race, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee won two states on Saturday while Arizona Senator John McCain claimed one on Saturday and swept Tuesday’s three contests.
Estimated delegate counts, including superdelegates, for the Democrats stood at 1,215 for Obama and 1,190 for Clinton. For the Republicans, estimates showed McCain leading with 812 delegates, and Huckabee and Texas Congressman Ron Paul trailing with 217 and 16 delegates, respectively.
Obama defeated Clinton in Louisiana, Nebraska, and Washington on Saturday, and won on Sunday in Maine. Obama received 57 percent of the vote in Louisiana to earn 33 delegates and 68 percent of the vote in the caucuses in both Nebraska and Washington, gaining 16 and 35 delegates from the two states, respectively. Obama received 59 percent of the vote in Maine’s caucuses on Sunday to win his fourth state on the weekend and claim 15 more delegates.
Yesterday, Obama won all three contests held: Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Obama gained 50 delegates in Virginia, 11 in Maryland, and nine in D.C. to become the new frontrunner.
“The weekend’s primary results present a clear path to victory for Senator Obama. His sweep of the eight contests following Super Tuesday displays the growing momentum of his campaign for change,” said Austin Randazzo ’08.
On Saturday, Clinton claimed 22 delegates in Louisiana, eight delegates in Nebraska, and 15 delegates in Washington. In Maine on Sunday, Clinton earned nine delegates.
Clinton also received delegates yesterday, gaining five in Maryland, 26 in Virginia, and two in D.C.
Sam DeLuca ’08 commented that he believes the Democratic primary is “going to come down to the superdelegates,” and that the race is now “about image and keeping momentum up.” Brian Donlan ’10 agreed: “The real decision is going to be decided by the superdelegates.”
Almost one fifth of the delegates on the Democratic side are superdelegates, whose votes at the Democratic National Convention in late August are not tied to the results of states’ primaries and caucuses.
On the Republican side, three contesests were held on Saturday. In the Kansas caucuses, Huckabee won with 60 percent of the vote, adding 36 delegates to his total. Huckabee was also victorious in Louisiana’s primary, defeating second-place McCain narrowly 43 percent to 42 percent.
“As Huckabee’s supporter for over a year now, I was pleased with the developments over the weekend, particularly the widespread caucus win in Kansas and the narrow primary victory in Louisiana,” said Ryan Hawthorne ’08.
McCain’s victory on Saturday came in Washington, where he received 26 percent of the vote compared to Huckabee with 24 percent, and Paul with 21.
The Senator then took all three of yesterday’s contests in the Mid-Atlantic. In Virginia, McCain won with 50 percent of the vote, claiming all of the state’s 60 delegates available yesterday.
McCain’s victory in Maryland earned earned him 13 delegates, and the Senator added 16 more to his total by winning in D.C.
With his victories yesterday, the Senator is now less than 400 delegates away from the 1,191 needed to win the Republican nomination.
“I’m excited to see that John McCain is consolidating his support, and that he can now start focusing on running a national campaign,” stated Dan Horvath ’08.
All delegate counts and vote percentages are per CNN’s website as of early this morning.
