Bernie Sanders was projected the winner of the Oklahoma primary Tuesday. His victory was called by Fox News and the Associated Press at around 9:15 pm EST.
Clinton and Sanders headed into Oklahoma’s Super Tuesday contest polling neck-and-neck, according to TPM PollTracker Average, which showed Sanders ahead of Clinton, 47 percent to 44 percent.
Oklahoma became a key battleground state in the Democratic primary, even as Clinton seemed positioned to do well across the South while Sanders paid the most attention to states in the North with primaries on Super Tuesday. Both of their campaigns had a notable presence in the Sooner State in recent weeks.
Sanders aired ads and visited Oklahoma last month, hoping a win there could prove he had appeal beyond the liberal Northeast enclave where is has been most successful. Demographically speaking, the state is more friendly to Sanders than those in Super Tuesday’s Southern swing, as its population is about three-quarters white.
Meanwhile, Clinton sent her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to stump on her behalf at a Oklahoma rally last week.
