NICK AND TIRED: Tuesday's primaries provide predictable winners

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Nick Siano is a sophomore telecommunications and journalism major and writes "Nick and Tired" for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Nick at ncsiano@bsu.edu.

Nothing is certain but death and taxes, and if a GOP frontrunner spews enough hateful rhetoric about immigrants, he will undoubtedly win the Arizona primary.

Arizona and Utah held both Democratic and Republican primaries and caucuses on Tuesday, as well as Idaho, which held its Democratic caucus. Arizona was quickly projected as another state where Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton would walk away with the greatest delegate gains. Trump took all 58 delegates in the GOP primary, and Clinton walked away with 41 of the state's 75 delegates. Arizona is a winner-take-all state for the Republicans, but a proportionately-distributed state for Democrats.

CNN projected Trump would win Arizona shortly after preliminary numbers for Maricopa County came in. It's the county where Phoenix is, making it the most populous county in the state. It’s also the county where one of the nation’s most hawkish proponents for immigration overhaul has been voted in as sheriff for 23 years.

Nick Siano

You probably know of Sheriff Joe Arpaio from chain emails your grandparents sent you, where there were undoubtedly pictures putting this man who racially profiles Latinos on a pedestal. You likely then saw pictures of his infamous outdoor jail, where inmates are housed in tents, which he himself compares to concentration camps. He even launched an investigation into President Obama’s birth certificate (spoiler alert, he’s still not convinced). He and Trump are two peas in a pod.

Arpaio has endorsed past GOP frontrunners, but he’s never campaigned for them like he has with Trump. He’s joined Trump at rallies since the Iowa caucus. For a man like Arpaio to be kept in office, there has to be a sizable number of voters who share his sentiments. Trump’s rhetoric on immigration is pointed toward border states like Arizona, and when you have a population that keeps a man like Arpaio in power for so long, you see why they might back a potential leader like Trump.

Utah was Ted Cruz’s state to win if he wants to slow Trump as best he can. The state awards all 40 delegates to the winner, if they win the state by more than 50 percent. If that does not occur, the delegates are awarded proportionally. The state also awards 33 delegates for the Democratic caucus proportionally.

Pundits and pollsters were unsure if Cruz could secure the 50 percent needed to take all the delegates, but he pulled through. Just before 2:30 a.m. EST, the Associated Press projected he would win with a majority greater than 50 percent, taking all of the state’s delegates. The socially-conservative state backed him with overwhelming support.

Bernie Sanders was projected as the winner of both Utah and Idaho early in the night. There were no huge endorsements from characters like Arpaio in these states for Sanders — the states are demographically favorable to him.

Sanders just does well in heavily white states, and was assumed to be the frontrunner in the two states before polling began. In states with larger percentages of minorities, like the delegate powerhouse of California, there’s clear work to be done for him to get a sizable amount of delegates. Clinton won with Hispanic voters in Texas and Florida, but by the Illinois primary, Sanders was becoming much more competitive in securing their support.

The two parties look to be stretching this race as far as possible. For Democrats, Sanders can’t afford to drop out, with some of the most liberal leaning states holding primaries soon, as well as valuable rust belt states, where he’s begun to focus much of his campaigning. As for Republicans, Cruz is trying to close the gap on Trump, while John Kasich prays for a contested convention, as he is nearly 600 delegates behind the frontrunner.

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