Delegate haul

Clinton cruises in Arizona, Sanders takes Utah and Idaho

The former secretary of state prevails in the state with the biggest delegate haul of the night.

By Nick Gass

A week after scoring a five-state rout against Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton widened her already daunting lead over the Vermont senator by crushing him in Arizona.

But Sanders easily dispatched Clinton in Utah and Idaho, the other two Western states that voted Tuesday. Both states held caucuses, a format that has favored the Vermont senator.

Arizona, though, was the biggest prize of the night, with 85 proportionally allocated delegates at stake. With more than 70 percent of precincts counted in the state, Clinton was ahead 60 percent to 38 percent, and The Associated Press declared her the winner.

Sanders was looking to recapture the burst of momentum he enjoyed after his surprise win in Michigan on March 8. But he entered the day trailing Clinton by double digits in Arizona.

Shortly after the AP and networks called Arizona for Clinton, Sanders reminded supporters in San Diego just how far he had come in less than a year, while predicting a better finish in Utah and Idaho.

“When we began this campaign, we were considered a fringe candidacy," Sanders said. "Well, 10 months later we have now won 10 primaries and caucuses and unless I’m very mistaken, we’re gonna win a couple more tonight."

Before launching into a version of his stump speech, the Vermont senator also suggested that his campaign played a role in bringing out voters to the polls, regardless of whether they voted for him.

"When we began this campaign, we talked about the need for millions of people to become involved in the political process," he said. "Tonight in Utah, tonight in Idaho and tonight in Arizona there are record-breaking turnouts in terms of voters."

Sanders wrapped his speech by asking supporters to bring their friends and family out to vote in the state's June 7 primary, the largest delegate prize in the Democratic primary. "If there is a large voter turnout we will win here in California," he said, echoing a common refrain.

He then issued a more explicitly triumphant statement once the later outcomes were clear. “I am enormously grateful to the people of Utah and Idaho for the tremendous voter turnouts that gave us victories with extremely large margins," Sanders said. "These decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests.”

Clinton, speaking to supporters in Seattle, said she was "proud" to have won Arizona before turning her focus to the Republican race.

The terrorist attacks in Brussels, she said, underscored the importance and gravity of the presidential election. "The last thing we need, my friends, are leaders who incite more fear," she continued.

“We can’t throw out everything we know about what works and what doesn’t and start torturing people," she remarked, in alluding to to Ted Cruz's call for more stringent policing of Muslim communities and Donald Trump's insistence that torture could have prevented the attack in the European capital that killed 34 and wounded hundreds.

"What Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and others are suggesting, it’s not only wrong, it’s dangerous. It will not keep us safe. This is a time for America to lead, not to cower. And we will lead, and we will defeat terrorists that threaten our friends and allies," she said.

Sanders campaigned at the U.S.-Mexico border on Saturday, appearing with Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.). Clinton had the support of Arizona Democratic Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick and Ruben Gallego.

Unlike the other four candidates left running in either major party, Sanders opted to campaign in Idaho, Utah and Arizona on Monday rather than address the AIPAC policy conference in Washington, D.C.. He delivered a foreign policy speech in Salt Lake City in which he called for a restart of the Middle East peace process.

Following Tuesday's contests, the Democratic race moves to the Saturday caucuses in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington state, where Sanders is likely to do well. But the Clinton campaign has expected that.

"Our campaign will continue to compete in every state and will work to amass as many pledged delegates as possible everywhere," campaign manager Robby Mook wrote in a memo after Clinton's March 15 sweep. "In fact, we already have staff on the ground in every state that votes through the end of April. But our pledged delegate lead is so significant that even a string of victories by Sen. Sanders over the next few weeks would have little impact on Sec. Clinton’s position in the race."

Clinton's allies in Congress are calling on Sanders to wind down his campaign or, short of that, stop attacking the former secretary of state directly. A prolonged primary battle, they say, will only aid Trump in a potential general election matchup.