US Presidential Hopeful Sanders Wins Michigan Primary

US Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders has won the primary election in the state of Michigan, CNN reported, citing its own sources.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Sanders secured 50 percent after 95 percent of votes counted, while his main rival, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, secured 48 percent.

The voting results are important for the general course of the election campaign as Michigan is a large state. The voter turnout has broken all records, with about 900,000 voters coming to the polls.

As many as 130 delegates' votes are at stake in Michigan along with 17 unpledged delegates, or superdelegates. Clinton has already gained support of at least 10 superdelegates, so she is likely to win by the number of electors despite losing the vote itself.

The result came as an enormous shock to the Clinton campaign who had claimed only days earlier that the US Democratic presidential frontrunner, a former secretary of state, senator and first lady, enjoyed a 17 point lead over Sanders, a 74-year-old democratic socialist from the tiny northeastern state of Vermont. Not a single major opinion poll predicted a Sanders victory.

Also on Tuesday, Clinton enjoyed a sweeping victory over Sanders in the southern state of Mississippi. With 99 percent of the vote counted, she had 82.6 percent of the Democratic vote compared to only 16.5 percent for Sanders.

Next week, two more major US industrial states with large populations and similar economic problems, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri will vote and Sanders’ strong showing in Michigan has boosted the hopes of his supporters that he can secure a victory there as well.