Hillary Clinton scored a tight victory over Bernie Sanders in the Massachusetts Democratic presidential primary Tuesday. Supporters of both candidates came together last night to talk unity in the wake of a hard-fought campaign.
The race was so close that the Associated Press did not call the Massachusetts primary for Clinton until shortly before midnight, almost four hours after the polls closed. The unofficial results with more than 95 percent of the state’s precincts reporting had Clinton with 50.3 percent of the vote to 48.5 percent for Sanders.
Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, who endorsed Clinton and canvassed neighborhoods in his city for her, said the Super Tuesday victories in Massachusetts and southern states send a strong message.
"Secretary Clinton is the candidate that can bring together different communities and be competitive in a general election," said Morse.
Clinton campaigned in Massachusetts on the eve of the primary, holding rallies in Springfield and Boston. Former President Bill Clinton spoke at a rally in Worcester late Monday night and shook hands with voters at polling places in Boston Tuesday morning.
Sanders held an 11th hour rally in Milton Monday, and hosted a big rally a week earlier at UMass Amherst. Both campaigns spent heavily on T.V. ads, direct mail, and robocalls.
Clinton’s campaign dispatched foot soldiers from Connecticut to knock on doors in minority neighborhoods in Springfield Tuesday. Clinton won the city by a 60-38 percent margin. Twenty-five percent of Springfield’s registered voters went to the polls Tuesday, a much higher turnout than election officials predicted.
Sanders won by large margins in three of the four western Massachusetts counties, but Clinton took Hampden County, the most populous, by a 51-47 percent margin.
The close contest in Massachusetts was mirrored in the results from Holyoke, where Clinton won by just 48 votes. Morse said given the passion of both candidates’ supporters he was not surprised at the outcome.
" I do think there is some division in the Democratic party and I think the rhetoric from the Bernie supporters is a little intense in terms of it being very anti-Clinton," said Morse adding " But I respect people's views and it will be important for people to come together after the primary."
About 50 Democratic activists, supporters of both Clinton and Sanders, gathered at Brennan’s Place, an Irish pub in downtown Holyoke to watch the returns Tuesday night. Laurie Garcia, chair of the Easthampton Democratic Committee predicted the people who came to the watch party would have no trouble burying the hatchet.
" We have two wonderful candidates and we can be very proud of that," she said.
Ray Drewnowski, a member of the Holyoke City Democratic Committee, who supports Clinton, said the primary contests have benefited her campaign.
" Sen. Sanders is bringing so much to the dialog and the debate, that is bringing Sec. Clinton to talk about important issues of healthcare and student loan reform and debt," said Drewnowski. " In the end what divides us is not as important as what brings us together."
Patricia Duffy, a Sanders supporter, said she believes the young people who have been drawn to Sanders in large numbers, will back Clinton if she is the eventual nominee.
" I see common ground as opposed to what you see on the Republican party who is not speaking to those young people," said Duffy. " College debt issues, health care access issues, equality issues. There is nobody on the Republican side speaking to that."
Donald Trump handily won the Massachusetts Republican primary by a 31 percent margin. Ohio Governor John Kasich finished second.
