Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders score upset victories against their front-runner opponents

Story Transcript

JAISAL NOOR: It was the night of the underdog. Democratic candidate Senators Bernie Sanders and Republican Ted Cruz handily defeated their front-runner opponents in the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday April 5th. Sanders won in Wisconsin, gaining momentum in his fight against front-runner Hillary Clinton and trimming her commanding lead in delegates. “We have a path toward victory, a path toward the White House,” Sanders told supporters in Wyoming. The win for Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, is his sixth in the last seven presidential nominating contests, but he still faces a difficult task to overtake Clinton as the presidential nominating race moves to New York on April 19 and to five other Eastern states on April 26. Sanders said he was optimistic he could win in New York, Oregon, and California. The victory comes as Clinton and Sanders have agreed to meet for a debate on April 14, five days before the New York primary. Sanders needs to win up to two-thirds of the remaining delegates to catch Clinton, who will keep accumulating delegates even when she loses under a Democratic Party system that awards them proportionally in all states. On the Republican side Ted Cruz won the Wisconsin presidential primary on Tuesday, dealing a blow to front-runner Donald Trump’s hopes of amassing the delegates needed for the party’s nomination ahead of the July convention and boosting the chances of a rare contested convention.