Two days after the polls closed in Missouri Tuesday night, there still aren't any official winners in either the Democratic or Republican presidential primary. And, Politico reports, it's not because all of the votes haven't already been counted:
That’s because both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump lead their respective primaries by just 0.2 percentage point — within the 0.5 point threshold for a recount under Missouri election law."The margin of victory in the Missouri presidential primaries is less than one-half of one percent, which qualifies them for a recount in Missouri," said AP political editor David Scott in a statement provided to Politico. "Neither the Sanders nor Cruz campaigns have said if they plan to challenge the results, as is their right under Missouri law. As such, both races remain too close to call." [Politico]
Sanders' campaign says it is not yet at the point of making a final decision on whether to ask for a recount, though Sanders' chief strategist Tad Devine has said that "the difference could be a delegate in the end so it's not something that we feel a great urgency about."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Cruz has yet to say whether he's looking into a recount, though the stakes are higher in the Republican primary. Although Missouri is not a winner-take-all state, nine of the delegates go to the statewide winner regardless of the winning margin.
Both Cruz and Sanders have some time to make up their minds, though: Missouri law stipulates that recounts cannot be requested until four weeks after the election, so it might be at least April 15 until we find out who won the state.
-
Nigel Farage: was he a teenage racist?Talking Point Farage’s denials have been ‘slippery’, but should claims from Reform leader’s schooldays be on the news agenda?
-
Pushing for peace: is Trump appeasing Moscow?In Depth European leaders succeeded in bringing themselves in from the cold and softening Moscow’s terms, but Kyiv still faces an unenviable choice
-
Sudoku medium: November 29, 2025The daily medium sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
