The Campaign Trail 2016: Trump and Clinton win big on Super Tuesday

The last big super Tuesday of the 2016 presidential primaries occurred on Tuesday and for the Democrats, former New York Senator Hillary Clinton is battling it out with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders until the bitter end. Sanders was hoping for a big win today to close the large gap between him and Clinton and Clinton was hoping for major victories so she could get the required amount of delegates to claim the nomination.

The biggest state of the day was California, with its coveted 475 delegates up for grabs. Clinton won the state getting 55.8 percent of the vote and so far has collected 257 of the delegates. Sanders received 43.2 percent of the vote and so far has collected 188 of the delegates. Montana had 21 delegates up for grabs and Sanders won the state with 51.1 percent of the vote and collected 11 delegates. Clinton collected 44.6 percent of the vote and received ten delegates.

New Jersey had the second highest amount of delegates to award, 126 delegates to be exact, and Clinton won the state by a landslide collecting 63.3 percent of the vote and 73 delegates. Sanders received 36.7 percent of the vote and received 47 delegates. New Mexico, and its 34 delegates, had an almost tie with Clinton barely winning with 51.5 percent of the vote and collecting 17 delegates. Sanders received 48.5 percent of the vote and 14 delegates.

North Dakota was another win for Sanders in a landslide victory receiving 64.2 percent of the vote. Clinton received 25.6 percent of the vote. Sanders collected 13 of North Dakota's 18 delegates and Clinton received five delegates. The final contest of the day was in South Dakota, which was the closest contest of the day. Clinton received 51 percent of the vote and Sanders received 49 percent of the vote. South Dakota had 20 delegates to award and Clinton and Sanders split them evenly, each receiving ten delegates.

Overall, Tuesday was a loss for Sanders and a win for Clinton. Clinton didn't get enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination, however she added an additional 72 delegates to the gap between herself and Sanders leaving Sanders now 380 delegates behind (not including superdelegates).

As of the time of writing, Clinton has collected 2,184 delegates and 571 superdelegates, giving her a total of 2,755 delegates. Sanders has collected 1,804 delegates and 48 superdelegates giving him a total of 1,852 delegates. Superdelegates aren't bound to a candidate until actually voted at the Democratic National Convention. Between unpledged superdelegates and the remaining upcoming primary, there are 158 delegates that haven't gone to a candidate yet.

Without superdelegates, Clinton is 199 delegates away from the necessary 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Sanders is 579 delegates away from the necessary delegate total to get the Democratic presidential nomination. Sanders has vowed to stay in the Democratic presidential primaries to the end and has hopes to win a brokered convention.

Next up for the Democrats is the final primary contest before their national convention. On June 14^th Washington D.C. will cast their primary votes and disperse their 46 delegates.

For the Republican party, there were five nominating contests on Tuesday. Prior to Tuesday's primaries, billionaire Donald Trump had already passed the required 1,237 delegate count required for the Republican party presidential nomination. He is the only candidate still running in the Republican primaries. However, Tuesday may have actually been the most important day of primaries for Trump.

During the 2016 primaries, Republicans have been showing their disdain for the New York billionaire. Respected Republicans, such as George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and John McCain, have refused to endorse and vote for Trump. As the primary season goes on more and more Republicans have jumped on the “Not Trump” bandwagon, some of the most recent being Republican Nebraska State Senator Laura Ebke, who switched her party registration from Republican to Libertarian over Trump, and Republican Iowa State Senator David Johnson, who switched his party registration from Republican to no party because of Trump.

Tuesday was the first day of contests since Trump has secured the nomination and a high percentage of votes for him, especially since he is running unopposed, would help his troubled image. Trump didn't get the percentages he would have wanted to on Tuesday, but at least for him he didn't lose any of the states. Trump received the highest percentage of votes in New Jersey, a winner take all state, with 51 delegates up for grabs. Trump received 80.6 percent of the vote and walked away with all 51 delegates. California was Trump's next best state, with 172 delegates on the line and proportional delegate disbursement. California hasn't finished tallying up all the votes and so far Trump has 75.4 percent of the vote and collected 166 of the delegates. He is likely to collect them all.

In Montana, a winner take all state with 27 delegates, Trump received 73.7 percent of the vote and all 27 of the delegates. New Mexico, a proportional disbursement state with 24 delegates, Trump received 70.7 percent of the vote and all 24 of the delegates. And in the final contest of Tuesday in South Dakota, a winner take all state with 29 delegates, Trump only received 67.1 percent of the vote and collected all 29 delegates.

Tuesday was the the final day of the Republican presidential primaries and this was probably not the percentages Trump wanted to finish with. Next up for the Republicans is the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, from July 18^th through the 21^st at the Quicken Loans Arena. At the convention Trump is expected to be officially named the Republican presidential nominee.

The next edition of The Campaign Trail 2016 will be after the Democratic primary results in Washington D.C. on June 14^th.