Backers of former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton celebrated her decisive win in Delaware Tuesday night in Wilmington.
Cheers erupted inside Timothy’s on the Riverfront, as news Clinton’s victory was announced on television about half an hour after polls closed.
Unofficial state results show Clinton beating Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in all parts of the state with nearly 60 percent of the vote. Projected thunderstorms didn't roll in until well after polls closed.
Dozens from Laborers’ International Union wore orange shirts in support of Clinton, with plenty of others packing the bar with their eyes straining to see district-by-district results.
"Sec. Clinton worked incredibly hard for every vote and we knew she was going to carry Delaware and she was here, she worked hard and she spoke incredibly passionately at [World Café Live at the Queen] the other day and we are just thrilled with how tonight turned out,” said state Democratic Party vice chair Lisa Goodman.
That's despite Sanders bringing thousands of people to the Riverfront just a few days ago.
"Bernie has turned out crowds everywhere he's gone, but Sec. Clinton has turned out votes and at the end of the day that's what it's about," Goodman said.
Both candidates campaigned in Wilmington in recent days, with Clinton’s much smaller crowd not indicative of who showed up at the ballot box.
Previously uncommitted as a super delegate, Goodman says she will vote for Clinton at the national convention in the summer. She also says she expects little turmoil from the more progressive wing of the party when they try to unify behind one candidate in November.
“I think we all are hoping that Sen. Sanders will make this decision on his own. Obviously, the earlier he makes it, in my opinion, will be better for the party. We can all start to pull together, but that’s a decision that he has to make on his own timetable.”
Delaware’s 31 Democratic Party delegates will be split up in a week and a half at the state convention.
