US presidential rivals Clinton, Sanders tied in support among Democrats: Poll

NEW YORK – Reuters

The top contenders in both the Democratic and the Republican presidential nominating races have roughly equal support among members of their respective parties, according to a national Reuters/Ipsos poll released on April 12. 

The results suggest the race to get onto the Nov. 8 presidential ballot is tightening, as candidates prepare for their next state contest, in New York next week. 

In the Democratic race, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont each had 48 percent support, according to responses from 719 Democrats polled from April 8-12. The two have been tied frequently since February. 

In the Republican race, celebrity real estate developer Donald Trump had 41 percent support, to 35 percent for Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, according to responses from 598 Republicans. The result was within the poll’s credibility interval. 

Cruz’s support has risen in recent weeks, making him the first candidate to rival Trump’s popularity among Republicans since neurosurgeon Ben Carson in November 2015. 

Trump, Clinton declared winners of Missouri primaries

Meanwhile, Trump and Clinton were declared the official winners of the Missouri primaries on April 12 – nearly a month after they were held, AFP reported.

The March 15 votes in both parties were extremely close: Clinton and rival Sanders were neck-and-neck, as were Trump and Cruz.  

Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander finally certified the result, tweeting: “@HillaryClinton and @realDonaldTrump have officially won Missouri.” 

Clinton earned 49.6 percent of the vote, to 49.36 percent for Sanders - a margin of 1,574 votes, according to the results posted on the secretary of state’s website. Each takes 34 delegates.

On the Republican side, Trump earned 40.84 percent of the vote, to 40.63 percent for Cruz - a difference of 1,965 votes. The real estate mogul thereby takes 25 delegates to 15 for the Texas senator.

U.S. President Barack Obama is facing criticism for his latest defense of Clinton’s use of a private email server.
Obama said he believed Clinton may have been careless with her handling of sensitive information sent to her private email account.

He said he also believed Clinton did not intentionally jeopardize national security.

Critics said Obama’s comments could influence federal investigators looking into the matter - or could give the impression that the probe is biased.

A White House spokesman said April 12 that the president is committed to ensuring that prosecutors “do their work without influence from politicians.”

The White House said Obama has not received a briefing on the matter and is expressing his opinion based solely on news reports.