Bernie Sanders continues hot streak by winning in Wisconsin

Bernie Sanders took a crucial victory in Wisconsin's primary on Tuesday night, breathing new life into his challenge to Hillary Clinton.

Sanders' win in Wisconsin still leaves him far behind Clinton in the race to accumulate the 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination. But it gives his effort to thwart Clinton's path to the nomination more momentum.

It is also likely to raise new questions about the vulnerabilities of the former secretary of state and raise the stakes for her to win the April 19 primary in New York, the state that she represented in the U.S. Senate for eight years.

Speaking to supporters in Laramie, Wyoming after he was projected to win in Wisconsin, Sanders claimed new momentum in the race.

"With a victory in Wisconsin tonight...we have now won seven out of eight of the last caucuses and primaries," Sanders said. "And we have won almost all of them with overwhelming landslide numbers."

Sanders also claimed, as he has at rallies around the country, that he is the Democratic presidential candidate with the best chance of defeating Donald Trump in the general election.

"Momentum is that when you look at national polls or statewide polls we are defeating Donald Trump by very significant numbers. And in almost every instance in national polls and in state polls, our margin over Trump is wider than Secretary Clinton's," he said.

While Sanders came away with a victory, Wisconsin's 96 delegates are allocated on a proportional basis, giving Sanders little ability to cut into Clinton's lead. While Tuesday's results may do little to winnow Clinton's delegate lead, they strengthen the case Sanders needs to make to  "super delegates," who are able make up their minds about whom to support, regardless of how their states vote.

Meanwhile, Ted Cruz took a decisive victory over Donald Trump and John Kasich in the Republican primary, increasing the chances that Trump will not lock up the GOP nomination ahead of the party convention in July.

Sanders campaigned aggressively in Wisconsin, crisscrossing the state for events and running television advertisements making the case that he is the best candidate.

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For months, Clinton aides have telegraphed that she could lose Wisconsin and have been shifting their focus to New York.

Clinton spent the day in New York City, campaigning in Brooklyn with Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, by her side.

Clinton aides have suggested that Wisconsin was a state in many ways tailor-made for Sanders, given the progressive political climate. (Barack Obama beat Clinton by 17 points in Wisconsin in 2008.) They also suggested Sanders would benefit from the fact that the primary would disproportionately attract white voters, college students and independents, woh form the core of Sanders' base.

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"It’s got a lower population of African-Americans, a very small population of Latinos. We’ve done very well in building a diverse coalition, which is why we’ve won far more primary elections than Sen. Sanders has and compiled a bigger net delegate lead in those primaries by a lot, than he has," Clinton chief strategist Joel Benenson told MSNBC on Monday when asked about the Wisconsin primary. "The key here in Wisconsin is to compete hard, try to win this state. But in either way this state comes out, I think it’s close enough there isn’t going to be a big shift in the 230 or plus pledged delegate advantage that Hillary Clinton has right now."

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Sanders also benefitted from an open primary format; voters did not need to be Democrats to participate in Tuesday's voting. He was also likely aided by a historic turnout: State election officials predicted the largest turnout for a primary since 1980, according to the Associated Press.

While Sanders campaigned in Wisconsin earlier on Tuesday, he was also not in the state as the polls closed. Instead, he traveled to Wyoming, which holds Democratic caucuses on Saturday.

In a fundraising email to supporters shortly after the results came in, Sanders claimed victory and looked ahead to future primaries and caucuses.

"Wyoming caucuses in just four days and New York votes two weeks from today, and you can bet the financial elite of this country won’t give up without a fight," he said. "They’re going to throw everything they can at us. But if we stand together, we’re going to keep winning."

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