SANDERS WINS OREGON; NEAR TIE SPLITS DEMOCRATIC DELEGATES IN KENTUCKY BETWEEN CLINTON AND SANDERS

Trump gets 66% of Oregon votes in uncontested Republican primary

By Miriam Raftery

May 19, 2016 (San Diego) – Both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will each pick up 27 delegates in the Kentucky primary where with 100% of precincts counted,  Clinton received 46.8% of the vote and Sanders 46.3%.

In Oregon, Sanders scored victory with 56% of the vote, while Clinton took 44%. Sanders will get 34 delegates and Clinton 25, as of the results with 96% of the count tallied, Associated Press reports.

Donald Trump won the Oregon Republican primary, but even with all other Republican competitors dropped out, still scored only 66.6%, with a third of voters casting votes for other candidates no longer in the race.  Trump picked up 17 delegates.

The Kentucky outcome is a disappointment for Clinton, who won Kentucky during the 2008 primary by 35 points over Barack Obama.  But she still has a nearly insurmountable lead  with 1768 pledged delegates to Sanders with 1494.   She also has 525 of 712 superdelegates committed to support her at the convention, versus 39 for Sanders and the rest undeclared.

On June 7^th, “Super Tuesday,” voters in California, New Jersey,  Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota will head to the polls for Democratic primaries; Republicans will also hold primaries in all of those states except North Dakota. California, with 546 delegates, is by far the biggest prize remaining in the still-contended Democratic primary.

Sanders would need overwhelming victories in California and other states to have any chance of convincing superdelegates to shift votes. Meanwhile some party leaders pressing Sanders to work toward uniting the party. Sanders however has pledged to carry his campaign all the way to the Democratic convention in July.

Meanwhile in an interview with Fox News, Trump made clear that he considers claims of past womanizing by former President Bill Clinton including a “rape” allegation to be fair game in the campaign.

Some Democratic insiders have voiced concerns over the negative fodder  that a Clinton candidacy would give Trump, including the FBI investigation of Clinton emails and questions over potential improprieties involving the Clinton foundation funding.  Some have suggested that Sanders may the stronger candidate to beat Trump, citing recent polls that show Sanders faring better against Trump than Clinton would in a general election – and Clinton losing by up to 5 points according to some polls.

But others argue that Clinton has already been tested by fire during her husband’s presidency, weathering scandals ranging from Whitewater to impeachment proceedings,  and that she is the candidate best prepared to stand up against Trump’s bullying style.  Clinton loyalists contend that Sanders has not been a target for Trump during the primary  and could fall in popularity despite his surge in most recent primary races if Trump were to take aim at Sanders in a general election matchup.