West Virginia primary: Clinton holds convincing lead over Obama

Published on Tuesday 13 May 2008 09:31

DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is expected to beat front-runner Barack Obama in West Virginia's primary election contest today, polls showed.

But the results from the Mountain State, which has only 28 delegates, will have little impact on the overall race for the party's presidential nomination and Mr Obama has already turned his attention to November's general election battle against Republican John McCain.

As Mrs Clinton campaigned for every vote in West Virginia over the weekend, a poll by Suffolk University found she had a 60%-24% lead over the Illinois senator.

But Mr Obama, 46, will not be in the state today, choosing instead to attend Senate votes in Washington DC before travelling to Montana, which will hold its contest on the last day of the US primary season on June 3.

He will even return to states which have already held their primary elections later this week as he focuses on a potential general election campaign.

Mr Obama took the lead over the former first lady among superdelegates for the first time yesterday as he extended his overall lead in the race, gradually inching his way towards the party's presidential nomination as the US primary season nears its end.

He now has the support of 1,866.5 delegates, compared with Mrs Clinton's 1,697, the latest Associated Press figures showed. A total of 2,025 delegates are needed for the party's nomination.