Connecticut Presidential Primary 2016 Results: Hillary Clinton Beats Bernie Sanders

Hillary Clinton was declared the winner over Bernie Sanders in a nail biter finish for the Connecticut Democratic Primary.

Multiple news outlets including the Associated Press called the race for Clinton around 10:30 p.m. It was the last race out of Tuesday’s five state primary races to be called.

As of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday Clinton had 137,921 votes to Sanders 127,894 with 87.5 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Secretary of the State office.

Sanders led Clinton for the majority of the night, but Greenwich and the state’s big cities came through strong for Clinton.

Greenwich came through big for Clinton with 3,206 votes compared to Sanders' 1,443, according to the Secretary of the State office.

Hartford supported Clinton with more than 4,700 votes compared to Sanders 2,000 with 58 percent reporting as of 10:45 p.m, according to the Hartford Courant. Things were closer in New Haven where both candidates appeared in the past couple days. Clinton had 4,200 votes to Sanders roughly 3,700 with 35 percent reporting.

Hillary Clinton spoke at a Philadelphia, PA victory rally after 9 p.m. where she urged the party to unify in order to win the national election.

“We will unify our party to win this election and build an America where we can all rise together,” she said.

People have to be both dreamers and do’ers, she said. She applauded Sanders for the challenge to get big money out of politics and for everyone to have equality.

“Whether you support Sen. Sanders or support me there is much more that unites us than divides us,” she said.

Democrats are united on a number of issues including higher wages, affordable college, quality and affordable health care, clean energy and defending the rights of all no matter their gender, sexual orientation or disability.

Clinton spoke about her stories of talking to people around the country, including a New Haven nurse that faced foreclosure after using her savings to battle breast cancer. She said the woman was middle class and wasn’t looking for a handout.

“People have worked hard and done their part, but just can’t seem to get ahead,” Clinton said.

Sanders congratulated Clinton on her victories and said he looks forward to the next 14 contests.

“I am proud that we were able to win a resounding victory tonight in Rhode Island, the one state with an open primary where independents had a say in the outcome," he said. "Democrats should recognize that the ticket with the best chance of winning this November must attract support from independents as well as Democrats."

Some Tweets from the day

Tuesday's primary comes just one week after Clinton handed Sanders a crushing double-digit loss in New York. Voters in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Rhode Island will also head to the polls Tuesday. Pennsylvania is the biggest prize on Tuesday offering 210 delegates.

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Scott McLean, professor of political science at Quinnipiac University predicted last wekk that it would be very close race between Sanders and Clinton for the primary with Clinton taking the win.

He said voter enthusiasm is with Sanders as Connecticut residents have been coming out in droves to register to vote despite the state’s late primary.

More than 16,000 new Democrats, 7,000 Republicans and 8,000 unaffiliated new voters registered between April 1 and April 21. More than 87,000 new voters have registered since the beginning of the year. McLean attributed part of the new Democrat registrations to Sanders.

But there are also serious obstacles for Sanders to also overcome too. He said Connecticut isn’t as eager for an outsider candidate like Sanders, McLean said.

“It hasn’t been that long since Connecticut became such a blue state. The memories of being out of power are fresh in the mind,” McLean said of Democrats. “The appeal to Sanders is muted compared to other places.”

Sanders progressive message resonates with many voters in longstanding Democratic stronghold states like California. Recently, a lot has been made of Sanders and the African-American vote. A recent Quinnipiac University poll estimated black voters back Clinton 66 percent to Sander’s 25 percent in the state.

Despite calls from Democratic party leaders for Sanders to scale back his criticism of his opponent, the senator from Vermont is campaigning vigorously to spread his populist message.

During his events, Sanders continues to hammer Clinton on what he says is her too-cozy ties to Wall Street, reiterating his calls for her to release transcripts from her paid speeches to Wall Street bankers.

Some Clinton allies are suggesting the Sanders campaign needs to dial back some of that messaging. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy told the New York Times a day after Sanders' loss in New York: "I think we all need to back up and take a breath, because this shouldn’t be a personal battle that damages the party."

Clinton, for her part, has "taken the gas off" Sanders following her New York win, CNN explains. Sanders' name has been largely absent from her public speeches since last Tuesday's primary election in the Empire State.

Clinton only mentioned her opponent's name once during a rally Thursday in Connecticut when discussing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act in 2005, according to the CNN report.

Delivering her victory speech in New York, Clinton reached out to Sanders supporters, saying, "And to all the people who supported Senator Sanders, I believe there is much more that unites us than divides us."

It remains to be seen if Sanders supporters will end up rallying around Clinton if she is indeed the party’s nominee this fall.

After Tuesday's primaries, the following contests remain on the calendar: Indiana (May 3); Guam (May 7); West Virginia (May 10); Kentucky (May 17); Oregon (May 17); Virgin Islands (June 4); Puerto Rico (June 5); California (June 7); Montana (June 7); New Jersey (June 7); New Mexico (June 7); North Dakota (June 7); South Dakota (June 7); District of Columbia (June 14).

Reporting by Kara Seymour, Al Branch and Rich Scinto