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Clinton wins Puerto Rico primary

Jun 02 2008

Clinton wins Puerto Rico primary

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By Agencies

Clinton has polled well with Latino voters, but hopes for her presidential nomination are fading [AFP]

Hillary Clinton scored a big win in Puerto Rico's primary, a day after the Democratic Party dealt a blow to her presidential hopes by restoring only half of Michigan's and Florida's voting power.

The US territory will send to the party convention in Denver 55 delegates - more delegates than 28 US states.

CNN, Fox News and MSNBC networks said on Sunday that Puerto Ricans had voted decisively for Clinton, but MSNBC said turnout was poor at about 10 per cent.

But Puerto Rico is one of only three remaining Democratic primaries and Barack Obama would likely still end up ahead in the presidential race.

Although the Puerto Rico victory confirmed Clinton's popularity among Latino voters, her hopes of winning the presidential nomination are fading.

Saturday's decision by the Democratic Party's rules and by-laws committee on Michigan and Florida came as a big setback for Clinton.

The party had barred delegates from the two states from voting at the party convention in Denver in August - that will decide the presidential nominee - as punishment for moving their primaries forward to January, against Democratic party rules.

Clinton won the primary battles in both states and pushed for both states to have their delegates reinstated.

The party reached a compromise deal in Washington on Saturday, halving the votes of delegates from Michigan and Florida at the August convention.

Clinton plan rejected

The committee rejected a Clinton-backed proposal to seat all the Florida delegates at full strength, then backed compromises seating both the Michigan and Florida delegations while cutting their voting power.

The decision divided Democrats, with one woman loudly telling committee members to "shut up", while another shouted "you stole my vote".

Others vowed they would vote for John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, rather than for Obama in the presidential election.

Harold Ickes, a senior Clinton aide and member of the committee which approved the deal, said her campaign might challenge the ruling.

"There's been a lot of talk about party unity - let's all come together, and put our arms around each other," he said.

In Puerto Rico, the island's central political issue is its relationship with the US.

Both Clinton and Obama support allowing Puerto Ricans to decide for themselves whether they want to try for statehood or keep their current status as part of the US.

Voting results are expected shortly after 3pm local time (1900 GMT).