Clinton claims victory in Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton claimed victory in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, beating out Sen. Barack Obama after a bruising seven-week campaign.
It’s a long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania, she told supporters in Philadelphia.
I’m in this race to fight for you … You know you can count on me to stand up strong for you every single day in the White House.
Clinton commended Obama and his campaign, saying they are in many ways on this journey together. Watch Clinton claim victory
Tuesday’s projected victory follows Clinton’s wins in other big states such as Ohio, New York and California.
Her campaign said that should raise new questions about whether Obama, who leads Clinton in the overall Democratic race, can beat presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in November.
The tide is turning, Clinton told cheering supporters. Chelsea Clinton’s eyes welled with tears as she watched her mother speak.
With about 93 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton was leading Obama by 10 points. Watch what Obama’s campaign says about the results
Clinton will pick up a majority of the state’s 158 delegates.
But the win still leaves Obama ahead in the race to the Democrats’ August convention in Denver, and he is likely to hold that lead unless the wheels come off his wagon, said CNN analyst David Gergen, a former adviser to both Republican and Democratic candidates.
He came up short, but it doesn’t look like the wheels came off, Gergen said. That’s going to be her problem. I don’t see her way to the nomination. The wheels aren’t coming off the wagon unless there is some new, big revelation.
According to CNN’s latest count, Obama leads in the delegate count — 1,685 to 1,544.
He also leads in the popular vote and the number of states won so far this primary season. See how the delegate race has played out so far
CNN analyst and Clinton supporter Paul Begala said Clinton still scored an extraordinary victory in Pennsylvania.
Obama congratulated Clinton on her win and looked ahead to the May 6 contests in North Carolina and Indiana. Watch Obama congratulate Clinton
There were a lot of folks who didn’t think we could make this a race when it started, he said in Evansville, Indiana.
But we worked hard … And now, six weeks later, we closed the gap. We rallied people of every age and race and background to the cause. And whether they were inspired for the first time or for the first time in a long time, we registered a record number of voters, and it is those new voters who will lead our party to victory in November.
Obama scored big with new Democrats in Pennsylvania, early exit polls showed.
One out of every seven Democratic party voters was not registered as a Democrat at the beginning of the year, and 60 percent of them cast their ballot for Obama, according to the exit polls.
Clinton fared better with voters who made up their mind in the last week, the exit polls showed.
Fifty-eight percent of those voters said they chose the New York senator. That includes voters who made up their mind in the aftermath of last week’s heated Democratic debate. See the exit polls
African-American voters in Pennsylvania supported Obama by a substantial margin. According to exit polls, 92 percent cast their vote for the Illinois senator, compared with 8 percent for Clinton.
Clinton got the support of older voters, with 61 percent of those age 65 or older backing her, according to the polls.
She also received more support than Obama among white males, with 55 percent voting for her.
Clinton on Tuesday acknowledged her White House bid was on the line in Pennsylvania. Call races for yourself and see how delegates add up
Well, I have to win, Clinton told ABC. I believe that’s my task. And I’m going to do everything I can to win.
Calling Pennsylvania an uphill climb, Obama declined to predict a victory in the primary, but said his campaign showed he can compete in a big state.
A win is 50 plus one. So, if Sen. Clinton gets over 50 percent, she’s won the state and, you know, I don’t try to pretend that I enjoy getting 45 percent and that’s a moral victory — we’ve lost the state, Obama said during a stop in South Philadelphia. Watch what Obama says about the primary
The race generated high interest in the state.
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes said he thought the turnout would be a record for a primary, with some counties reporting 50 and 60 percent of voters showing up at the polls.
Pennsylvanians have seen, in terms of participation, in terms of interest, what feels like a general election — a presidential general election — as opposed to a presidential state primary where there’s hardly any interest, Cortes said.
About 4 million Democrats were registered to vote in Pennsylvania.
In recent weeks, Clinton fended off calls to drop out of the race as the increasingly bruising primary fight raised worries from within the party that the daily cycle of charge-and-countercharge could hurt the Democrats’ chances in the general election.
Neither candidate is expected to win the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the nomination by the end of the primary season in June.
The superdelegates — party leaders and officials — then could decide the nomination.
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