In a shocking statewide victory in Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary election Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by 17 percent of the vote in Hillsdale County.
Despite both Michigan Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters’ endorsing Clinton, Sanders has been campaigning hard in the Great Lakes state, and defeated Clinton by one percent of Michigan votes cast.
Sanders’ Michigan victory came after a strong performance at CNN’s Democratic primary debate hosted at the University of Michigan — Flint last Sunday, when he won the endorsement of former Michigan Sen. Don Riegle.
“You’re worried about the possibility of Cruz or Trump being elected, the person today who the American people in public opinion polls say they would vote for versus these candidates and who can beat all of these candidates — there’s only one, and it’s this guy right here,” Riegle said at a press conference ahead of the debate in Flint on Sunday.
While Sanders was victorious in Michigan, Clinton trounced the socialist senator taking 82.6 percent of the vote in Mississippi.
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump also scored a victory in Hillsdale County, beating rival Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by a 13 percent margin. Trump won 41 percent of the votes across the county.
Trump also won victories in Mississippi and Hawaii, while Cruz won the Idaho Republican primary.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich came in third place in Hillsdale, taking 18 percent of the vote. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio won only seven percent of the vote in Hillsdale County.
Despite having suspended their presidential campaigns, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson won 192 votes, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush got 49 votes, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul got 22 votes, and retired Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum took 13 votes.
Hillsdale County saw a high turnout, with 29.93 percent participating of the 33,256 registered voters across the county.