Sen. Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the Wisconsin primary Tuesday, his sixth straight victory in the Democratic nominating contest and the latest in a string of setbacks for Clinton as she seeks to put an end to a prolonged race against an unexpectedly deft and well-funded competitor.
On the Republican side, Sen. Ted Cruz soundly defeated Donald Trump in the Wisconsin primary Tuesday, breathing new life into efforts to halt Trump's divisive presidential candidacy and dealing a blow to his chances of clinching the nomination before the party's summer convention.
With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Cruz had received 48.3 percent of the vote to 35.1 percent for Trump. Gov. John Kasich of Ohio was a distant third with 14 percent.
Clinton's defeat does not significantly dent her comfortable lead in the race for the 2,383 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination. But the loss underscores her problems connecting with young and white working-class voters who have gravitated to Sanders' economic message -- a message he will now take to economically depressed parts of New York state ahead of the April 19 primary there.
With 95 percent of districts reporting, Sanders had received 56 percent of the vote to 43 percent for Clinton.
Sanders' victory came after he had hardly left Wisconsin in recent days, pouring his energy and resources into securing a win that would help him put to rest any doubts that he could capture a major primary state, and providing his campaign with renewed focus as he strives for an upset in New York, Clinton's adopted home state.
He used his victory speech to remind voters of how far his long-shot candidacy had come, defining the word "momentum" as exceeding the expectations set by a skeptical news media and establishment political class.
"Momentum is starting this campaign 11 months ago and the media determining that we were a 'fringe' candidacy," Sanders told a crowd of more than 2,000 on a college campus in Wyoming, which holds its caucuses Saturday and where he is also favored to win. "Do not tell Secretary Clinton -- she's getting a little nervous," he added. "But I believe we've got an excellent chance to win New York and a lot of delegates in that state."
Trump's loss was his most significant setback since Cruz narrowly defeated him in Iowa, the campaign's first nominating contest. And after largely dominating the Republican field from the moment he announced his candidacy last June, Trump now faces a fresh challenge: bouncing back in the face of searing attack ads by Republicans bent on stopping him, persistent questions about his demeanor and campaign organization, and a single ascendant challenger in Cruz.
In winning Wisconsin so convincingly, Cruz, of Texas, showed he was capable of appealing to more than just the hard-line and religious conservative Republicans who have been the foundation of his campaign.
"Tonight is a turning point," he told cheering supporters in Milwaukee. "It is a rallying cry. It is a call from the hard-working men and women of Wisconsin to the people of America: We have a choice, a real choice."
But Cruz faces daunting tasks. One is consolidating the anti-Trump vote. Another is capturing more moderate Republicans in a series of primaries in Northeastern states that are likely to be favorable territory for Trump, beginning with New York on April 19.
Standing in Cruz's way is Kasich, whose poor showing Tuesday came despite spending considerable time in Wisconsin.
Sanders' victory signaled vulnerabilities that have trailed Clinton's candidacy, amid persistent criticism of her paid speeches to Wall Street banks and her email practices while serving as secretary of state. In Wisconsin, Sanders held a significant edge among voters who said they wanted a candidate who cares about people like them. Nine in 10 voters said the Vermont senator was honest and trustworthy, compared with 6 in 10 who said the same about Clinton, according to exit polls of voters from Edison Research.
Clinton spent most of her time in the state in Milwaukee, where she held a discussion about gun violence at Tabernacle Community Baptist Church alongside black mothers who had lost children to gun violence or clashes with the police.
About 7 in 10 black voters in Wisconsin, mostly concentrated in Milwaukee, supported Clinton. She also outpolled Sanders among voters over 45. Sanders won among men, younger voters, independents and white voters.
Sanders also captured a majority of voters who said the economy was the most important issue, and about two-thirds of those who cited income inequality. The more than 4 in 10 voters who said trade with other countries took away from American jobs favored Sanders by a large margin, exit polls showed.
Wisconsin provided a friendly setting for Sanders' brand of economic populism. Liberals made up two-thirds of the overwhelmingly white Democratic primary voters; and the economy, followed by income inequality, topped the list of voters' concerns, according to exit polls.
As Clinton shifted focus to New York, Sanders embarked on a week of campaigning through Wisconsin, speaking to crowds of thousands in Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay and La Crosse, and also visiting more sparsely populated or rural areas like Eau Claire, Onalaska and Wausau.
While Trump handily won among Wisconsin moderates, exit polls showed, Cruz and Kasich received roughly equal support in that group. Cruz not only took nearly two-thirds of "very conservative" voters, he also won among voters who called themselves only "somewhat conservative." Notably, Cruz also won among those who did not call themselves born-again Christians -- a group with which he has struggled in earlier contests.
Voters who made their decisions late once again broke sharply against Trump, who sustained a series of self-inflicted wounds in the last week: A third of voters settled on a candidate over that period, and of those, 46 percent said they backed Cruz. Only 29 percent embraced Trump.
Most striking, though, was how many Wisconsin primary voters still harbored deep discomfort with Trump despite his wide lead in the race for delegates. In exit polls, 58 percent said they would be "concerned" or "scared" if he were elected, higher than the other two Republican hopefuls. And 37 percent of those who voted in the Republican primary said they would support Clinton, a third-party candidate or no one at all if Trump were the Republican nominee.