Hillary Clinton was projected the winner of the Democratic primary in her home state of New York Tuesday.
ABC News and MSNBC called the race for Clinton Tuesday evening less than an hour after polls closed at 9 P.M. EST. Clinton was capturing 58 percent of the vote with nearly all precincts reporting, while her competitor for the nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), was winning 42 percent.
With the results out of the Empire State, Clinton inched closer to attaining the 2,383 delegates necessary to capture the Democratic nomination for president. While Clinton has consistently led Sanders in the delegate race, the Vermont senator has presented an unexpected challenge and edged Clinton out in multiple key states.
Prior to Clinton’s victory in New York, Sanders had won seven straight primaries and caucuses. His fundraising operation has also proved impressive; His campaign has outraised Clinton’s campaign for three consecutive months.
Clinton was expected to win New York, which she represented in the U.S. Senate in the early 2000s. An average of polls provided by Real Clear Politics showed Clinton leading Sanders by nearly 12 percentage points going into Tuesday’s voting. In the Democratic primary in New York, 247 delegates were up for grabs and were awarded proportionally based on the results.
However, Clinton’s lead in New York, like her national one, has eroded as Sanders has gained momentum especially among younger voters. Clinton is favored by only 2 points among Democratic voters nationally, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released this week.
The Clinton and Sanders campaigns have grown increasingly hostile to one another in recent weeks. Sanders has ramped up attacks on Clinton’s ties to big-money donors and Wall Street banks and slammed her for her $225,000 paid speech engagements to Goldman Sachs.
"Now, if you give a speech for $225,000, it must be a pretty damn good speech, must be a brilliant and insightful speech analyzing all of the world’s problems, must be a speech written in Shakespearean prose. And that is why I believe Secretary Clinton should share that speech with all of us," Sanders said during a rally in Brooklyn on Sunday.
Sanders’ campaign on Monday accused Clinton’s campaign of possibly violating campaign finance laws through its agreement with the Democratic National Committee regarding the Hillary Victory Fund. The fund, a joint fundraising committee between Clinton’s campaign and other Democratic Party committees, "skirts legal limits on federal campaign donations," a lawyer for Sanders’ campaign argued in a letter to the DNC.
The Clinton campaign has accused Sanders of launching "false attacks" to buoy his candidacy.
"As Senator Sanders faces nearly insurmountable odds, he is resorting to baseless accusations of illegal actions and poisoning the well for Democratic candidates up and down the ticket," Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said Monday.