Hillary Clinton's New York Win Is A Turning Point

Her party's nominating convention isn't until July, but Hillary Clinton won big in New York on Tuesday, and she might have just won the Democratic race. With more than half of precincts reporting, Clinton had almost 60 percent of the vote, giving her a 200,000-vote lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Her win wasn't too surprising, given that New York became accustomed to voting for her as their senator before she became secretary of state. On Tuesday, though, New York was much more than Clinton's second home.

Aside from the symbolic value for Clinton, New York's Democratic primary came with numeric value, too. The Empire State had 247 Democratic delegates to allocate on Tuesday, one of the largest windfalls remaining in the race. In fact, California is the only remaining state on the Democratic schedule with more delegates — a whopping 546. Even before all the votes were counted and the final delegate allocations announced, it was clear that Clinton would clear the Empire State with more than 100 delegates, putting her that much closer to a general election run later this year — a general election run that she is clearly ready to take on as her party's nominee.

As she addressed a celebratory crowd in New York City on Tuesday night, it was clear that Clinton had her eyes set on the general election. The primary schedule continues through mid-June, but Clinton will likely have the nomination locked in before then, thanks in part to her win in New York. The delegate math, and the importance of winning New York, wasn't lost on her when she spoke more about the general election than the primary race in her victory speech. When talking about her desire to protect the rights of all Americans, she alluded to several now-infamous lines from her Republican counterparts, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's jab at "New York values."

Those are, after all, New York values, and they are American values. We need to stand up for them through the general election and every day after that.

She even addressed her opponents on the right by name, and she called frontrunner Donald Trump out for the wall that he repeatedly says he wants to build along the country's southern border. The Trump reference, in particular, seems important after Tuesday. In another expected victory, Trump also won big in New York, snagging most of the state's 95 Republican delegates.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are pushing a vision for America that's divisive and, frankly, dangerous. ... Instead of building walls, we're going to break down barriers.

Clinton's latest win didn't just come from an important state. It also came at a significant time in the race. Clinton has struggled in recent contests, losing seven of the last eight states to vote to Sanders. During that time, Sanders picked up more than 200 delegates, closing some of the gap between him and the former first lady. After Tuesday, though, that momentum doesn't seem like it will stop Clinton entirely.

Image: Dawn Foster/Bustle