Mar 12, 2008 4:20 pm US/Eastern
Democrats Play The Numbers Game
WASHINGTON (CBS) ―
Sen. Barack Obama picked up five more delegates than Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in Mississippi's Democratic primary Tuesday.
But Clinton erased the gain Wednesday after final election results became available from a couple of Super Tuesday contests.
In Mississippi, Obama won 19 delegates and Clinton 14, according to an analysis of returns by The Associated Press.
Obama won the primary with more than 60 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns. But Clinton was able to hold down Obama's delegate gains by winning one of the state's four congressional districts. Obama carried the other three.
Clinton eliminated the gain when she picked up delegates based on final results from the New York primary and the Colorado caucuses, both of which were held Feb. 5. Clinton gained four delegates in Colorado and one delegate in New York.
The results were delayed in New York because the race for one delegate was too close to call. Clinton won the New York primary, picking up 139 delegates, to 93 for Obama.
In Colorado, the Democratic Party did not release results by congressional district until this week. Ten delegates had been outstanding; three went to Obama and seven went to Clinton. Obama won the Colorado caucuses, getting 35 delegates, to 20 for Clinton.
Clinton also picked up two superdelegates Wednesday, but she lost a high profile one when New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a scandal involving a high-priced prostitution ring.
New York's incoming governor, David Paterson, already is a Clinton superdelegate through his position is as an at-large member of the Democratic National Committee.
In the overall race for the nomination, Obama had 1,594 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton had 1,471, according to the CBS News count.
It takes 2,025 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination at the party's national convention this summer.
Most primaries and some caucuses are binding, meaning delegates won by the candidates are pledged to support that candidate at the national conventions.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
