This Week in Politics: The New York Primary
This past Tuesday, April 19, was one of the most important presidential primaries to date: New York. As the second largest state in the country in terms of delegates, New York was an extremely important state to succeed in.
On both sides, results came back as expected. While both parties’ polls were unclear as to who would take the win, it was not surprising in the least who won in their respective party’s primary. 
On the Republican side, Donald Trump won in a landslide,
receiving 60.5 percent of the vote, which was not surprising considering New York is his home state. John Kasich came in a distant second, receiving 25.1 percent of the vote, and Ted Cruz came in dead last, receiving 14.5 percent of the vote. Cruz’s failure was likely due in part to his “New York values” rant from a few weeks earlier.
On the Democratic side, the results were a little harder to predict. As both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were originally from the state, and there were polls to suggest that either one of them could have won the state, it was difficult to guess ahead of time who would have emerged victorious. In a not so shocking turn of events, Clinton, the former Senator of New York, received roughly 57 percent of the vote. Sanders, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, received slightly more than 43 percent. Results are still being calculated, however, and a number of news sources have reported record numbers of voter suppression, similar to that of Arizona from only a few weeks earlier. While official numbers are still trickling in, and no official investigation of voter suppression has been conducted, it is possible, if not likely, that this may have benefited the Clinton campaign.
The most important aspect of the primary, however, is not the number of votes received, but it is the number of delegates pledged to each candidate. The primary barely made a dent in the Democratic race, as there is less than a 30-delegate difference between Sanders and Clinton in New York. Total, there is only about a 200 delegate difference between the two candidates.
For the Republicans, Trump’s victory was crushing. Having received 89 delegates, compared to Kasich’s three and Cruz’s zero, Trump proved once again that the other Republican candidates are not giving him much competition.
The next round of primaries will be this upcoming Tuesday, and will include Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
If you are a Pennsylvania resident, I cannot stress the importance of voting this upcoming Tuesday. You have the power to help your candidate receive the nomination. Don’t waste the opportunity.
