N.J. Primary Results: Hillary Clinton Wins, Secures Democratic Presidential Nomination

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the New Jersey Primary Tuesday, becoming the first woman to secure the Democratic nomination for president.

Major news outlets called New Jersey for Clinton about an hour after polls closed at 8 p.m. and a couple hours before results were to come in from the California Primary. With about 94 percent of votes reporting, Clinton had a 63 to 36 percent lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Clinton, speaking at a rally in Brooklyn Tuesday, thanked the voters in New Jersey for the victory.

The results marked what could be the end of a tight, somewhat contentious primary battle against Sanders, who has said that he plans to continue fighting regardless of Tuesday's results - though he's backed off those words in recent days.

Before the New Jersey Primary, the former First Lady had one more than the 2,383 delegates she needed to secure Democratic nomination for president. Those delegates include 572 "superdelegates" that were awarded outside of the primary voting process.

Sanders has argued that he has performed better in polls against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and that he could ask the superdelegates to switch their votes to him. In recent days, however, he has said that he will reassess his chances after the polls close at 11 p.m. in California.

Trump, meanwhile, won the New Jersey Republican Primary while having no real opposition, but he's come under fire for controversial statements. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has defended him amid calls that he's a racist.

"I know Donald Trump. I’ve known him for 14 years. And Donald Trump is not a racist," Christie told reporters before voting on Tuesday.

Trump has recently taken heat for his criticism of a judge of Mexican descent who is presiding over a civil fraud case against his Trump University. Trump says the judge, who was born in Indiana, is biased because the Republican wants to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.

Former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman has told reporters this week that Republican voters should use the primary to cast protest votes against Trump. Whitman is a delegate for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who dropped out of the Republican race last month.

Turnout was said to be good on Tuesday. Despite the Associated Press' Monday prediction that Clinton is the nominee, voters in New Jersey said they were eager to head to the polls. Sarah Zwerko of Bridgewater was in line at 8:15 a.m. She said she voted for Sanders and his corresponding delegates.

"I feel that they are jumping the gun. Its not over til the last vote is counted. Because of that, I found it especially important to be part of that vote. My one vote could make the difference," Zwerko said.

Residents of Watchung began coming in at a steady pace around 4 p.m. at Wilson Memorial Union Church off Hillcrest Road.

And the consensus was mixed as to whom they were voting for.

"I voted for A. B. C. Anybody But Hillary," said a Watchung local, who didn't want to give his name. He voted for Bernie Sanders and said he wasn't affected by the Associated Press article on Monday.

Analysts say the New Jersey primary mattered this year more than ever.

“For perhaps the first time ever, the New Jersey primary will matter this June, giving the state a rare opportunity to impact the presidential selection process,” said Ashley Koning, assistant director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University.

The only exception may be 2008, the only time in recent history that New Jersey moved its primary to February. Clinton won the New Jersey Primary but eventually lost the Democratic nomination to then-Sen. Barack Obama in a very competitive race.

Clinton was leading Sanders in all the New Jersey polls before Tuesday's vote. In a Rutgers-Eageton poll, Democratic-leaning independents appeared to be fueling Sanders’ momentum, with just more than half of this group choosing the Vermont senator. Confirmed Democrats, on the other hand, firmly supported Clinton, at 57 percent.

“The preferences of unaffiliated voters could be an important factor in the primary,” said Koning. “New Jerseyans who have not yet declared a party affiliation may do so at the polls on primary day, and those who want to switch parties could have done so up until just a few days ago.”

There also appears to be a gender gap that's impacting nationwide Clinton-Sanders polls, and there are signs that it could impact Clinton while she is the Democratic opponent against Donald Trump.

There are signs the discomfort some people — particularly men — have with the thought of a female president could cost Clinton as much as 8 percent of the vote in November, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll.

Male voters who were prompted to consider Clinton’s gender are 24 percent less likely to support her in a match-up against the presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.

“This was a simple experiment,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson University and director of experimental research for the poll. “Half the people interviewed were posed with a question that prompted thoughts about gender and the other half were not.”

Clinton helped her cause by winning the Virgin Islands caucuses on Saturday and the Puerto Rico primary on Sunday.

Photo: 6abc.com