Front runners quite clear as Hillary, Donald roll on

Devin Welsh, Staff Writer

The current front-runners in this Presidential race put even more distance between themselves and their respective inter-party competition. The frenemy pact that John Kasich and Ted Cruz not-so-silently agreed to may go down in history as one of the biggest political blunders of this century (that’s if Donald Trump falls short of the White House). But that frenemy pact did get someone closer to the nomination, that person just happens to be Donald Trump. He won all five states that voted on Tuesday and stacked another 144 delegates to his already insurmountable lead.

There isn’t one single county in Pennsylvania that Trump didn’t claim. In Connecticut, he won all but 5 counties, which went to Kasich. All three counties in Delaware voted for the bright haired billionaire, and the story didn’t change in Maryland. But Rhode Island voters took a stand and chose to be different; Kasich escaped with the win in Barrington County (the only county that trump didn’t win) by 23 votes.

For Democrats however, it was much closer. While Hillary won 4 out of the 5 states that voted, the voters were much more divided. With nearly 52% of the vote in Connecticut, the former Secretary of State earned 27 delegates, only one delegate more than Sen. Sanders. And with almost 60% of Delaware’s support, she only pulled away 12 delegates to Bernie’s 9.

Getting into Maryland, the gap between the two began to grow, with 63% of MD voters siding with Hillary, she earned 59 delegates to Bernie’s 34. In the great Keystone state of Pennsylvania, both candidates fared rather well, but Clinton dominated in counties surrounding the larger PA cities, like Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia, whereas Bernie claimed the counties in the middle and northern areas of the state. Voters were clearly divided. Chester, Bucks, and Montgomery county voted in favor of the former First Lady, while Berks county was feeling the Bern. You can view an interactive map of the primary results linked here: (insert link). Overall, Pennsylvania awarded Secretary Clinton 105 delegates, and 78 went to the Vermont Senator.
Tuesday’s voting brought Clinton’s total to a formidable 1,666 pledged delegates, along with an additional 502 superdelegates showing unpledged support. Bernie is 307 delegates behind, resting at a total of 1,359 pledged delegates, however only 42 superdelegates are showing their support this far (though that could change).

As of right now, if the front-runners continue to widen their leads, we will see a general election showdown between billionaire businessman Donald Trump and former New York Senator, First Lady, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This certainly will be an interesting election. Make sure to vote in November and remember that your vote does matter and is important.