Student leaders react to Trump, Clinton New York primary win

Three of the five presidential candidates get to claim New York as home, but who gets to claim its delegates?

On the Republican side, New York has a total of 95 delegates, but only 14 are awarded at a statewide level. The remaining 81 delegates are dispersed among the state’s congressional districts.

New York native and real estate mogul Donald Trump won convincingly in the GOP primary. With 94 percent of precincts reporting by 11:20 p.m., Trump led with 60.1 percent of the vote, to Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s 25.2 percent and Sen. Ted Cruz’s 14.7 percent.

“We don’t have much of a race anymore,” Trump said in his victory speech at Trump Tower in Manhattan. “Senator Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated.”

Election watchers and political pundits don’t necessarily agree with the 1968 Wharton graduate on that point.

Trump still needs a total of 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination and avoid a brokered convention. He could block his competitors from gaining a majority before the convention, but it appears unlikely that he can do it himself, despite his large delegate lead.

The Associated Press reported by 11:30 p.m. that Trump had won at least 89 delegates, which would block Cruz from being able to reach the majority to win the nomination before the convention.

Though he lost by a long shot in New York, Kasich supporters are hopeful for the Ohio governor’s chances.

In an emailed statement, the Chair of Penn for Kasich and College junior Joseph Kiernan said, “Penn for Kasich is pleased with Governor Kasich’s performance in New York, where he exceeded all political predictions.” As for the future, Kiernan said, “Moving forward we are confident that Governor Kasich’s positive message will resonate through the Northeast and especially in Pennsylvania where he was born and raised.”

On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed a commanding victory in her home state of New York. With 94 percent of the vote reported, Clinton fulfilled the most recent polls’ predictions and beat Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a Brooklyn native, with 57.6 percent of the vote.

Clinton’s win in the Empire State was an important one for her campaign, as it marked the halt to the small momentum Sanders had built after winning seven out of the last eight contested primaries and caucuses since mid-March. Her win on Tuesday night also marked the candidate’s third win in the state after having won two senatorial races and the 2008 Democratic primary against President Barack Obama in the past.

Penn for Hillary was not surprised by the results and expects Clinton’s win to start a new streak of victories in the upcoming states.

“We applaud Bernie for his seven wins,” said Penn for Hillary president and College junior Emily Irani. “We are very respectful of his organization, but those few wins don’t distract us ... her win in New York is definitely going to help us going forward.”

Before New York’s 291 delegates were up for grabs yesterday, Clinton led Sanders 1,307 to 1,094 in pledged delegates. When taking into account unpledged delegates — or superdelegates, who vote regardless of primary outcomes — Clinton leads the Vermont senator by an estimated 651 total delegates, according to The New York Times delegate tracker.

Clinton’s win, her first since March 22 in Arizona, left her with the majority of the state’s delegates and put her closer to the 2,383 necessary to clinch the nomination.

“We are extremely excited for the results coming in,” said Irani, who noted that Penn for Hillary was recently recognized by the Clinton campaign as one of the most organized student groups in the state.

“She was a senator in New York and expected nothing less. We couldn’t have done it without the students who have been doing a lot of canvassing all over New York,” Irani said.

Penn Democrats, which endorsed Clinton earlier in the semester, was also excited to see Clinton win in New York last night. Max Levy, the group’s president and a College junior, said he was impressed with the strong margins of Clinton’s win.

“I think it was definitely a sigh of relief for the Clinton campaign, who hadn’t won in a while,” Levy said. “Hopefully she builds on that momentum going into Pennsylvania.”

Sanders was campaigning in Pennsylvania on Tuesday ahead of the state’s primary on April 26, when Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Rhode Island will also be in play.

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