With Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both coming in with landslide victories, the winners of the New York Primary for the 2016 presidential election have been determined.
Clinton swept Bernie Sanders with 1,054,083 votes against his 763,469. On the Republican side, Trump received 524,932 votes while John Kasich earned 217,904 and Ted Cruz pulled in a rough 126,151.
Many New York supporters of the losing candidates feel discouraged and are preoccupied with speculation for who the nominee will be.
According to The New York Times, Sanders’ loss in New York is extremely detrimental to his chances of getting the nomination and although his victories in states like Michigan were impressive, his path may lead to a loss in the pledged delegate race and therefore the nomination.
“On the democratic side it’s pretty clear, there is no real path to the nomination for Sanders, but I am not sure that there has been for a while,” said Political Science Department Chair and Associate Professor Jeff Miller. “So on the democratic side, I think it has been pretty clear for a while that Clinton is going to be the nominee.”
Miller said that he expects Sanders may take his delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August to enforce the changes he would like to make if he were president at the Democratic National Committee, and therefore may have a spot in Clinton’s cabinet.
According to Miller, if Clinton gets the nomination, it will be important for her to gain the enthusiasm Sanders’ supporters had for him.
“For the Republicans, it seems difficult to stop Trump at this point, but there will probably be an attempt to do so at the Republican National Convention or to bring in an outsider candidate,” Miller said.
A Republican or Democratic Convention for the presidential election requires all delegates of their state’s primary winner to vote for that candidate.
If Trump fails to collect 1,237 delegate votes at the Republican National Convention for each state he has won the primary in, a second convention will be held and may lead to some Republican delegates moving to vote for Cruz or Kasich.
Miller reported that if the Republican National Convention does not move to a second ballot, Trump will receive the nomination. If he comes in under 1,237 votes however, Miller said that there is a possibility for someone else to win the nomination.
“But you know that would split the Republican party and make some people angry in a semi-permanent way,” Miller said. “What happens in the future concerning how permanent that split is, will probably depend on how they handle it. Giving the nomination to someone other than Trump might make it more permanent.”
Second-year political science major and Lance Corporal of the United States Marine Corps David White said Clinton’s win was a disappointment to him. White also said that the New York requirement for an eligible voter to have registered with a party affiliation, not including independent, by October 2016 to vote in the primaries is extremely limiting.
“Hopefully Bernie lasts long enough to take votes from Hillary,” White said. “But honestly I’ll vote for Gen. Mattis if he is on the ballot because rumor is a bunch of wealthy Republicans are ready to back him to run independent against Trump and Hillary.”
Gen. Mattis is the head of Central Command in the Middle East and North Africa and a well-respected Marine.
Miller said that Trump’s political views and policies that seem to land anywhere sets him apart from the traditional Republican candidate. His presence will be harder for the Republican party to bring these “parts that don’t fit” together and keep them under one roof.
“I was in California recently and I had spoken to some Trump supporters and asked them who they would vote for if Trump lost,” Miller said. “And these people said that they may support Bernie in that situation.”
Miller explained that these Trump supporters simply want a presidential candidate who is less issue oriented and more anti-establishment. Miller said these supporters do not put importance on loyalty to particular candidate or party.
Miller said even the Republican party itself and right-wing media outlets such as Fox News have been pushing messages with anti-establishment rhetoric against Obama and Obama’s “that government doesn’t work or it doesn’t accomplish anything.”
The New York primary has caused voters to express dismay towards the New York voting system.
According to a press release by New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) concerning potential voter registration irregularities:
“Charges of potentially disenfranchising purges of voters have been reported in Brooklyn affecting more than 100,000 voters. While these numbers could reflect a proper yet delayed purge of voters who have died or moved, confidence in the electoral process is essential for public confidence in election results and our democracy.”
With 18 more states to vote in the Republican primaries and 16 in the Democratic, the 2016 presidential race is starting to narrow down as the general election approaches.