Clinton takes Pennsylvania 55-45

After five contentious weeks of campaigning, Sen. Hillary Clinton bested Sen. Barack Obama by nearly 10 points in yesterday’s Pennsylvania Democratic primary. Polls leading up to the race had been erratic, with some showing Clinton ahead by as much as 20 percentage points several weeks ago to as little as within the margin of error in recent days.

Despite receiving over 200,000 more votes than her opponent, Clinton may have only made slight gains on Obama’s delegate advantage. Early returns suggest Clinton may have picked up anywhere from 16 to 20 delegates, but CNN has her trailing Obama by 138 delegates and NBC News has the tally at 166.

After the race was called for Clinton, NBC News political director Chuck Todd declared “the pledge delegate count is basically over. If you could call an election on the delegate count and say, ‘OK, who is going to have the most pledged delegates at the end of this process,’ it now appears as if it is going to be impossible for Obama to lose his lead.”

NBC News political director Chuck Todd on Obama’s delegate advantage (2:33)

For Clinton, this race is far from over as her campaign now turns its attention toward Indiana. In her victory speech last night, Clinton made the argument that it is too soon and too important for this battle to end. In a sign that Clinton’s opponent recognizes her resiliency, Obama had already left Pennsylvania behind when the results began to trickle in. He was headed for Evansville, Ind., for a campaign event with John Mellencamp.

Hillary Clinton delivers Pennsylvania victory speech (16:36)