Both candidates who were expected to win in West Virginia Tuesday did — Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders took the state.
With no one left to run against, Trump won the Republican primary in the state by a large margin. A small crowd gathered at Embassy Suites in Charleston to celebrate the victory. Robert Jones, of Charleston, was at the party and said Trump is the candidate the state needs.
“I believe that Trump resonates with the working man and I really like that,” Jones said. “Other than the past couple of years, the Republican party has distanced itself from middle America and I think Trump is the first person that is going to redefine the republican party.”
Things were more up in the air on the Democratic side, where Bernie Sanders was the projected winner of the state primary. Daniel Falsafi was at the Bernie Sanders rally at a bar in downtown Charleston. The college student from South Charleston said Sanders is the man for the working class.
“He does want to help out working people,” Falsafi said. “He wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, he wants to help with paid family and medical leave, he wants to help out the working man.”
Sanders took the victory over Hillary Clinton by a safe margin, despite her national delegate lead.