WHO’S WON WHERE
The Democratic Party has held primaries or caucuses in 21 states. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has won in 12 states, and Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has been the victor in nine states. Here’s where they won:
Clinton
Alabama
Arkansas
Georgia
Iowa
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Mississippi
Nevada
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Sanders
Colorado
Kansas
Maine
Michigan
Minnesota
Nebraska
New Hampshire
Oklahoma
Vermont
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both pledged Wednesday not to deport children currently living illegally in the U.S. as the Democratic presidential candidates debated just days before primary voters in this Hispanic-heavy state hit the polls.
The two remaining Democratic candidates sought to clarify their positions — and congressional records — on immigration to the millions of Latino voters here, an influential bloc that accounts for roughly one-quarter of Florida’s population of more than 20 million.
“I would not deport children. I do not want to deport family members, either. I want to prioritize who would be deported — violent criminals, people planning terrorist attacks, anybody who threatens us. That’s a relatively small universe,” Clinton told debate co-host Jorge Ramos of Univision after he repeatedly asked her about the topic.
Sanders made a similar pledge, adding that he would not deport illegal immigrants without criminal records if they are already in the country.
President Barack Obama’s recent immigration raids have angered many Latinos, even after he spearheaded executive actions that would shield millions of others living illegally in the U.S. from deportation. The November 2014 actions are currently in limbo as the Supreme Court considers a legal challenge to them.
The need to address the issue has been further highlighted over the past 18 months by the flood of children spilling across the southwest border from drug-ravaged Central American countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Since both candidates hold fairly similar views on immigration, the pair sought to differentiate themselves from one another by highlighting their past votes on legislation in Congress.
Clinton flaunted her support of the Dream Act, as well as an immigration effort that then-Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy spearheaded during the George W. Bush administration that was ultimately derailed.
Sanders defended his vote against the latter effort, which he said hinged on its treatment of guest workers. He also dinged Clinton for sending mixed signals on then-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s 2007 effort to provide driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
Both candidates promised to promote comprehensive immigration legislation and to work around Congress if lawmakers block such an effort, following a path Obama has taken through executive actions.
“What I believe right now is not only that we need comprehensive immigration reform, if the Congress does not do its job, as president of the United States I will use the executive powers of that office to do what has to be done, to do what President Obama did and expand on that,” Sanders said.
Clinton, who has focused her campaign on winning nonwhite voters, holds a sizable advantage with Hispanics. Exit polls show the former secretary of state captured more than 70 percent of the Latino vote in Texas last week, though Sanders has made inroads with younger Latino voters, as shown in votes in Nevada and Colorado.
The debate was the second head-to-head battle between the pair in four days and it came less than 24 hours after Sanders’ upset victory over Clinton in Michigan breathed new life into his campaign.
Long the front-runner, Clinton was expected to breeze to a victory in the industrial state. Instead, Sanders sees his win as a sign he’ll challenge Clinton in Illinois, Missouri and Ohio, which all hold big votes next week.
Still, Sanders’ surprise win in Michigan was not enough to cut into Clinton’s significant lead in the delegate count – she easily carried Mississippi earlier in the evening and secured 29 additional delegates.
When asked to reflect on Tuesday’s results in the opening minutes of the debate, Clinton played down the results in Michigan.
“I was pleased that I got 100,000 more votes last night than my opponent and more delegates,” Clinton said. “This is a marathon, and it’s a marathon that can only be carried out by the kind of inclusive campaign that I’m running.”
The Michigan results showed Sanders would not be such an easy opponent for Clinton to shake off — in recent weeks, she seemingly began turning her attention more toward the larger race against the GOP. Instead, this could be a battle that stretches on for several more weeks.
“I believe that our message of the need for people to stand up and tell corporate America and Wall Street that they cannot have it all is resonating across this country,” Sanders said, “and I think in the coming weeks and months we’re going to do extremely well.”
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