The race for the Democratic presidential nomination will continue. Sen. Hillary Clinton defeated Sen. Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary by 10 percentage points last night – a margin likely large enough to quell calls for her to step out of the race.
With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton had 55 percent of the vote to Obama’s 45. Polls in the days before the race predicted her lead would be smaller, though most polls until a couple of weeks ago showed Clinton had a double-digit lead over Obama.
“We were up against a formidable opponent who outspent us 3-to-1,” Clinton told supporters in Philadelphia. “He broke every spending record in this state trying to knock us out of the race.”
Obama spent more than Clinton in Pennsylvania and recent filings with the Federal Elections Commission show that his campaign has more than $40 million on hand, while Clinton’s campaign funds have dwindled to next to nothing.
Clinton was the projected winner of the race within an hour after the polls closed, and her campaign immediately sent text messages and e-mails calling for supporters to donate $5 each.
Campaign aides said $500,000 was raised within an hour.
Clinton was expected to win by roughly 200,000 votes and accrue 15 more pledged delegates than Obama, according to an estimate by NBC news.
That would bring Obama’s overall lead in the primaries down to roughly 300,000 votes and about 135 delegates, according to NBC.
Exit polls conducted by The Associated Press and television networks showed Clinton won voters 65 and older, women, white men and voters without a college degree.
Obama won among college-educated voters and earned the support of 89 percent of black voters. His aides made the case that he made improvements with every voting bloc since the Ohio primary, specifically among white men and older voters.
Clinton portrayed her victory as a sign of strength and told supporters, “because of you, the tide is turning.”
“The American people don’t quit. And they deserve a president who doesn’t quit, either,” Clinton said.
Clinton took several jabs at Obama’s campaign slogan, portraying herself as someone who will accomplish her goals while Obama will merely hope for them. The crowd responded with chants of “Yes, she will!”
Speaking to a crowd in Indiana, Obama saved most of his criticism for Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. Obama said McCain would be “more of the same,” with both economic policies and a war strategy similar to President George Bush.
Indiana will vote on May 6, the same day as North Carolina, where Republican party leaders are reportedly considering a television advertisement highlighting Obama’s ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, which could bring race to the forefront of the campaign again.
After Indiana and North Carolina, the campaign will head to West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota.
Sara Bean Duncan, the president of the University’s College Democrats, said that after last night the Democratic race is still “very competitive.”
“I think this is great for Oregon in that our primary still has some weight to it,” she said. “Oregon isn’t going to be a kingmaker – or a queenmaker, in this case – but I think it will still keep a level of excitement.”
Oregon’s primary election is on May 20.
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