Trump, Clinton win Illinois primaries

Source: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS, Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Hillary Clinton (left) narrowly won the Democratic primary in Illinois on Tuesday night. Republican Donald Trump won his party’s respective primary.

Marissa Page, City Editor

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump won their parties’ respective primaries in Illinois on Tuesday.

As of midnight Wednesday, nearly all precincts had reported and Trump held 39 percent of the vote, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) with about 31 percent. Clinton held a slight lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with just more than 50 percent of the vote.

Trump and Clinton also won the North Carolina and Florida primaries on Tuesday. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) suspended his presidential campaign after Trump won in Florida. Gov. John Kasich and Clinton took Ohio. The races in Missouri have not yet been called.

Clinton and Sanders both held campaign events in Evanston over the past week. Last Tuesday, former President Bill Clinton stumped for his wife at Beth Emet Synagogue, 1224 Dempster St. On Friday, members from indie rock band Vampire Weekend, along with Sanders campaign staffers, led a march from the Northwestern Phi Gamma Delta house to the Evanston Civic Center to encourage NU students to cast primary votes.

Weinberg senior Kevin Cheng, president of NU Students for Hillary, introduced Bill Clinton last Tuesday. He challenged the perception that young Democratic voters gravitated toward Sanders over Clinton.

“When it comes down to it, Hillary goes much more to the heart of the (issues),” Cheng told The Daily after the event. “I would encourage people to cut through the media dialogue and stereotypes about Hillary.”

Both candidates repeatedly thanked their supporters in speeches Tuesday night. Hillary Clinton faced a particularly close contest in Illinois where she was leading by 42 points earlier this month, according to a Chicago Tribune poll. The gap narrowed significantly in later polls, with a March 11 CBS poll putting Sanders ahead by 3 points.

In light of her victories Tuesday, Clinton turned the focus of her speech toward the presidency. She said if elected, she would prioritize Americans’ safety and promote individual welfare.

“You know, running for president is hard,” she said. “But being president is harder. It is the hardest, most important job in the world.”

On Friday, Trump canceled his appearance at a rally at the University of Illinois-Chicago following protests at the event. He did not acknowledge the incident in his speech from Florida, and spoke instead about the media attention his campaign has received.

In his speech, Trump called journalists “disgusting,” but also said coverage has resulted in increased voter turnout.

“We have to bring our party together,” he said. “We have something happening that actually makes the Republican party probably the biggest political story anywhere in the world … millions of people are coming in to vote.”

In local races, Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) won the Democratic nomination for the 2016 Illinois senate race, beating challengers Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris (Communication ‘02). Duckworth will go up against incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) for his seat in November. Additionally, Kim Foxx beat out incumbent Anita Alvarez for the Democratic nomination for Cook County state’s attorney.

Brad Schneider (McCormick ’83, Kellogg ’88), who served in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015 before losing his seat to Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.) (Kellogg ’00), won the Democratic primary in Illinois’ 10th District, which encompasses a significant portion of the North Shore.

This story was updated with election results at 1:10 a.m. 

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