Hannah Lundquist —
On Tuesday April 5, 2016 the Commons filled up with college kids, Menomonie residents and some faculty members. The Wisconsin Primary elections were held in the Glass Lounge for Wards 5 and 7. The process was quite lengthy if you had not already registered to vote in Menomonie, taking three hours for some students.
Voting ran from 7 A.M. to 8 P.M. so there was plenty of time for students to be able to cast their votes in between either classes or work.
Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz were the clear winners of the presidential primary for each party across the state.
For the Democratic Party, Bernie Sanders was the winner in Dunn County, with 63.5 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton came in second with 36 percent, and Martin O’Malley who has dropped out of the race still received .3% of the vote.
For the Republican Party, Ted Cruz was the winner with 46.3 percent of the vote. Donald Trump received 41.1 percent, and John Kasich 10.1 percent. Republicans that were on the ballot but who have dropped out of the race still received some votes, getting up to .7 percent.
In a poll from NBC news it was revealed that voters who identified Republican would abandon their party if either Cruz or Trump were to get the nomination. Likewise Democratic voters said that they trusted Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton and would be more likely to vote for him. Democratic voters also said that they also believed that Hillary’s policies were more realistic and easier to attain than Sanders.
Since the primary election in Wisconsin news outlets are now thinking that Trump might not get the Republican nomination after all. Trump has been doing very well in all the state primary elections, but his loss in Wisconsin has people now thinking that he might not get the nomination. For Cruz, his win in Wisconsin last week has now made him a top contender for the nomination.
For the Democratic Party it has been fairly even between the front-runner Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. However, it is projected that Hillary will win the nomination for the Democrats.
As of last Tuesday we have two hundred sixteen days until the Presidential election. There are twenty-two primary elections left and the next is set to take place in New York on April 19th.
Fivethrityeight.com projects that Donald Trump has over a 99% chance of winning the New York primary, and they project that Hilary Clinton has over a 98% chance of winning that primary.