- The Washington Times - Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton spanked Sen. Bernard Sanders in Arizona’s primary Tuesday night, padding her massive lead in delegates — though Mr. Sanders recovered later in the evening with wins from the Utah and Idaho caucuses.

The Associated Press called the Arizona race after 11 p.m. EST, with Mrs. Clinton holding an insurmountable lead. With 71 percent of the voter counted, she had 61 percent of the vote to Mr. Sanders’ 37 percent.

Mrs. Clinton was poised to collect the vast majority of delegates to the summer nominating convention, though unlike the GOP contest, Mr. Sanders picked up some of the state’s 75 delegates even in defeat.

All three states were reporting massive turnout.

“You are all part of something bigger than yourself. You’re part of the most consequential election we’ve had in a long time in America,” Mrs. Clinton told supporters at her post-election party in Seattle.

Washington state holds its caucuses this weekend, and that’s expected to be a major test to see if Mrs. Clinton can overcome Mr. Sanders in territory deemed friendly for the insurgent senator.

But Mrs. Clinton already is looking past Mr. Sanders and focusing on an eventual race with a GOP nominee, saying Tuesday morning’s terrorist attack in Brussels should focus Democratic voters’ minds on the need for a “steady” hand as commander in chief.

“The last thing we need my friends are leaders who incite more fear,” she said.

Mr. Sanders was unbowed by the Arizona result, saying he’s seeing massive energy and a major shift over the 10 months of his campaign. He said he began the race down by 70 percentage points in national polling to Mrs. Clinton, and he said he’s now closed that gap to just 5 points.

“We have now won 10 primaries and caucuses, and unless I’m very mistaken we’re going to win a couple more tonight,” he said at a post-election party in San Diego, where he was looking ahead to California’s primary several months away.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

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