Clinton suffers surprise loss in key US primary as Trump triumphs

WASHINGTON – Agence France-Presse

AP Photo

U.S. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton suffered a surprise loss to challenger Bernie Sanders in a major state primary March 8, as billionaire Donald Trump notched a trio of easy victories in the Republican presidential nomination race.

The former secretary of state slumped to defeat in the industrial rust belt state of Michigan, where Sanders snagged 49.9 percent of the vote compared to Clinton’s 48.2 percent with almost all precincts already reported.

“This has been a fantastic night in Michigan,” Sanders said shortly before the race was called in his favor.
However, Clinton handily defeated her rival in the southern Gulf state of Mississippi, thanks to a strong turnout by African-Americans.

And despite the upset, Clinton received a psychological boost by passing the half-way point in the race to reach the 2,382 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.

Nevertheless, even with the delegate math in Clinton’s favor, Sanders’s strong showing will reinvigorate his campaign, and raised questions about her ability to win key industrial states in the general election, such as Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont and self-described democratic socialist, has energized young voters with calls for greater economic equality and denunciations of what he sees as a corrupt U.S. political system.

Meanwhile, Trump shrugged off a barrage of negative advertising and intense efforts by the party establishment to derail his White House campaign to win primaries in Michigan and Mississippi, signaling to his rivals he can survive anything they throw at him.

He also emerged the victor of caucuses held in Hawaii.

“I don’t think I’ve had so many horrible, horrible things said about me in one week, $38 million worth of horrible lies,” Trump told a crowd in Florida as he celebrated his first two victories.

“I think we ought to use that money to fight Hillary Clinton and the Democrats.” 

It was not a clean sweep for Trump, however. He came second to Senator Ted Cruz, his nearest Republican competitor, in Idaho.  

Clinton has now won 13 out of 22 nomination contests, with Trump prevailing in 15 out of 24 races as the two inch closer to the tipping point in their respective races.

Marco Rubio, the senator whom mainstream Republicans rallied behind as the man to topple Trump, suffered another poor showing, facing the prospect of receiving zero delegates from either Michigan or Mississippi, the two main prizes of the night.