March 15, 2016 (2016-03-15) 2020 → 1,039,555 999,494 | 79 77 50.56% 48.61% | |
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The 2016 Illinois Democratic primary took place on March 15 in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
On the same day, the Democratic Party held primaries in Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, while the Republican Party held primaries in the same five states, including their own Illinois primary, plus the Northern Mariana Islands.
Analysis
Bernie Sanders was able to hold frontrunner Hillary Clinton to a narrow 2-point margin in her birth-state of Illinois, by winning with voters under the age of 45 (70%-30%) who made up 39% of the electorate and white voters (57-42) who made up 58% of the electorate. He also won men, 53-45. According to exit polls, Sanders narrowly won the Hispanic/Latino vote 50-49. However, Clinton won with African American voters (70-30), women (55-45), and older voters (63-36), especially senior citizens (70-29), thus narrowly carrying the state in which she was born.
According to exit polls, Clinton won among voters who made less than $50k a year, with Sanders winning more affluent voters.
As became a trend in the Democratic primary race, Hillary Clinton won Democrats (57-42) but Sanders won self-identified Independents (69-30).
Clinton performed well in Chicago where the electorate is more diverse (she won 54-46) and in the Cook Suburbs (she won 53-46). Sanders performed well in the Collar Counties (he won 52-47) in the north (he won 53-46) and in the central/south part of the state which is whiter and more rural (he won 54-45).