Politics

Bernie Sanders Just Won Indiana

May 4th 2016

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is the projected winner of the Indiana Democratic primary, according to NBC, beating out former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Prior to Sanders' win in Indiana, Clinton had 1,645 pledged delegates and 520 superdelegates, the Guardian reported. Sanders had 1,357 delegates pledged and 39 superdelegates.

delegate math from the guardianThe Guardian - theguardian.com

Despite losing in four states last Tuesday (and winning in Rhode Island), and the fact that many are speculating that Sanders is winding down his campaign, due to recent layoffs, his win in Indiana proves that his ideas and campaign platform are still resonating with voters. A recent NBC News/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll found that the majority of Democratic voters want Sanders to stay in the race until the election.

NBC pollThe NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking poll - nbcnews.com

Sanders still needs to win about two-thirds of the pledged delegates to head into the convention with a majority, according to NPR. However, despite that steep climb,Sanders still stands to make some political gains by not conceding the race to Clinton. 

As Tommy Christopher from Mediaite pointed out:

"Unless something crazy happens, there will be a floor fight in only the most technical sense, but the minute Bernie lays down arms and says he’s not really trying to win the nomination, he gives up the only real leverage he has to get his policy passions, and those of his followers, into the Democratic Party platform. If he goes into the convention with a mess of delegates, but having conceded to Hillary, Bernie will have earned lip service for his policies, and for the time and energy his followers invested in him."

This article was updated with new information at 6:41 PM PST. 

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