Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both cruised to victory in the Louisiana primary.
On the Democratic side, Clinton claimed victory winning 71 percent of the vote and carrying 63 of the state’s 64 parishes. Trump won by less of a margin on the Republican side, getting 41.4 percent of the vote. Ted Cruz, his next closest challenger, finished with 37.8 percent.
For Trump, Louisiana marks the 12th state he has won, bringing his national delegate total to 391, although his lead is shrinking. Of the four states that voted on March 5, Ted Cruz took two, bringing his delegate total to 304. Republicans need 1,237 delegates to win the nomination.
Louisiana was also the 12th win for Hillary Clinton, but the Democratic front-runner also did not have a great evening. While she won Louisiana, the most delegate-rich state, she suffered defeats to Bernie Sanders in Kansas and Nebraska. Clinton still maintains a big lead nationally, where if you include superdelegates, her count stands at 1,121. Sanders only has 481. 2,383 delegates are needed for the Democratic nomination.
Robert Mann, Louisiana State University journalism professor was not surprised by last night’s results.
“Clinton is enormously popular among African-Americans, especially in the South. That’s the strongest traditional constituency of the Democratic party,” Mann said. “On the Republican side, I think that Trump is still the favorite, but Ted Cruz has some life in him. It’s going to be interesting to see whether this is the beginning of Trump waning or whether he reasserts himself in the primaries going forward.”
The next contests will be held on March 8. Michigan and Mississippi cast their ballots for both Republicans and Democrats, while Republicans will also hold contests in Hawaii and Idaho.
