Hillary Clinton Gets Closer To The Nomination

As the GOP presidential race descends into more chaos, the Democratic Party is seemingly get closer and closer to electing their nominee. Candidate Hillary Clinton has won three of the five states so far in Mega Tuesday, and collected a sizable amount of delegates in her path to the Democratic convention. March 15 was a big day for both parties, and voters have already seen some shakeups. Clinton in particular needed to dominate the mid-March primary results, as her campaign has experienced some turbulence after opponent Bernie Sanders did far better than anyone originally expected. So how many delegates did Clinton win on Super Tuesday 3?

After the reporting came in for Mega Tuesday, Clinton won in Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, and Ohio. With those four wins secured, she has garnered at least 326 delegates, inching her that much closer to the July convention. At the time of writing, this puts her at 1,094 pledged delegates and 467 superdelegates, with 822 delegates still needed for the nomination.

Even if she does get the required delegates, though, that may not spell the end of Sanders' campaign. He's shown that he has the will and financial backing to see the primary process through to the end.

What this means for Clinton and her team is that she will likely have to keep pushing to the end, even if she gets the needed delegates before July. Thankfully, voters have seen a much more organized competition from the Democratic candidates — so even if Clinton (or Sanders, if he ends up pulling more delegates) has to divide her attention between her Democratic opponent and a likely Trump nomination, the Democratic Party has shown they will be able to remain focused in light of what has been an increasingly unusual election year.

The odds certainly do look in her favor for the long term, though, as she currently leads Sanders by more than 300 pledged delegates. This is double the largest lead then-Sen. Barack Obama had over her in the 2008 primary election. Clinton's momentum moving through the primaries is undeniable, despite the occasional upset from the Sanders campaign.

Clinton is therefore in a strong position to maintain and grow this momentum as the Democratic Party inevitably unifies under a central figure. If she can keep this up through the remainder of spring and summer, we very well may be looking at a Clinton nomination come July.