March 5, 2008: Results from 97% of the precincts for the
Texas Democratic Primary - March 4 have already been reported, and Sen. Hillary Clinton has emerged as the projected winner with a narrow margin of 3% popular votes. She has won 51% of the popular votes in the Texas Primary, as compared to 48% by Sen. Barack Obama. Delegate counts are yet to be finalized. As of now, Clinton has secured the vote of 16 delegates and Obama has ensured the support of 10 delegates to the National Convention.
However, Texas follows a combination of Primaries and Caucuses, and Barack Obama is marginally ahead of Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Caucuses. 36% of the precincts holding caucuses have reported, and Obama maintains a narrow lead of 4% of the popular votes as of now. 67 of the total strength of the 126 delegates from the State will be determined by the Texas Democratic Caucus, and the rest will be decided by the Primaries. The delegate support from the Texas Caucus is yet to be finalized.
The Texas Primary was expected to be a close call, with Obama considerably narrowing down Clinton's popularity after a spectacular show on Super Tuesday and the Primaries held soon after that. Clinton and Obama ran neck to neck in all pre-poll surveys. However, the election has been much closer than even experts speculated it to be.
It now remains to be seen who walks away with the advantage in this extremely crucial delegate-rich State.
