Sanders upsets Clinton in Michigan

After spending weeks focusing on Flint on the campaign trail, Clinton found herself in an unexpected struggle with Sanders as some Democrats felt the front-runner ignored other parts of the state.

This is a big win for Sanders, who was hoping to show an ability to win labor union voters and compete with Clinton in a racially diverse state.

Early returns showed Sanders leading Clinton, leaving her to hope for a huge vote from outstanding minority precincts. The RealClearPolitics polling average showed Clinton beating Sanders by 20 points.

Up until Michigan, Sanders has done well in states with small black populations while Clinton has swept through the South, leading the Sanders campaign to declare her a “regional candidate.”

Both candidates focused intensely on Michigan this year due to the water crisis in Flint. Clinton sent advisers to the city in January to meet with local officials and helped bring the issue to national prominence by routinely speaking of Flint on television and most notably during her closing remarks of the January Democratic debate in Charleston, S.C.

During the debate in Flint last week, Clinton attacked Sanders for his 2008 vote against the bailout of the auto industry, an issue that hits especially close to home for Michigan voters. But the next day Sanders claimed that Clinton “went out of her to mischaracterize” his voting record and that his vote was specifically against bailouts for the big banks, not the auto industry.

The Democratic socialist candidate is most popular among younger voters and performs especially well in university towns, such as Wastenaw County and Ingham County.

“Not only is Michigan the gateway to the rest of the industrial Midwest, the results there show that we are a national campaign,” Sanders said after the results were announced. “We already have won in the Midwest, New England and the Great Plains and as more people get to know more about who we are and what our views are we’re going to do very well.”