Story by Luisa-Maria Michiu, Reporter
Photo courtesy of Reuters/ Carlo Allergi

The primary elections are just around the corner and it is safe to say that we, the citizens of America, will soon have a tough decision to make by electing the next president of our country. This decision will not only impact our country in economic terms, but it will also drive foreign po
licy. Voters should also keep in mind that this election is extra important because the next candidate gets to appoint a new Supreme Court Justice after the passing of Antonin Scalia. A lot has happened along the way!

Recently, we have had several candidates from both parties drop from the election. Some of these candidates include Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, and Martin O’Malley. Republican and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson ended his presidential campaign on March 4 after announcing that he did not see a “political path forward.” Analyzing the states and delegates, he claims to have done the math and simply realized that it was not going to happen for him. His road has come to an end; however, he will continue to be heavily involved in trying to save our nation. Carson led national polls briefly in November, 2015, but began to struggle just before votes began to cast. Despite staying in the race through Super Tuesday, Carson never finished better than fourth in any primary or caucus and had just a little over one percent of the delegates awarded up until then. Carson now endorses Donald Trump.

Republican Marco Rubio has also ended his campaign recently on March 15 after failing to conquer his home state of Florida, triumphed by Donald Trump. Finishing last in the other four primaries that day and failing to unite the Republican establishment against Trump led to him stepping down from the race. He dropped out claiming that this was “Not God’s plan [for him to] be president in 2016.” It is not yet sure that he might withdraw completely from this race however. Rubio may soon endorse Republican colleague, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

Dropping out after a very poor finish, Democrat Martin O’Malley decided to end his campaign on February 1. He got less than one percent support on the Iowa caucuses, which ended his run. O’Malley never reached double-digit support in national polls. He was also unable to make a compelling argument as to why they should side with him over Clinton. He now endorses Democrat Bernie Sanders.

As for the candidates who remain, Republican Donald Trump is winning the Republican delegates by far against remaining GOP candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich. Meanwhile Hillary Clinton is winning the Democratic delegates against her single rival Bernie Sanders. The most recent election in New York currently looks to bring big primary victories to both front-runners, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. According to a Quinnipiac University Poll, Clinton leads Senator Bernie Sanders 54% to 42% in New York.

On the Republican side, Trump is in first place with 56%, while Texas Senator Ted Cruz falls behind with a 20% and Ohio Governor John Kasich with 19%.

   In a hypothetical general election match-up in New York, Clinton beats Cruz at 53% to 32%. Kasich would come as close as 41% to the former secretary of state’s 46%.

According to the poll, Brooklyn-born Sanders would also defeat Cruz 56% to 28% and Kasich 57% to 37%.

The competition among the candidates is in open air right now, and the excitement is stirring up as the results for the primaries will soon be announced this June. Don’t forget to do your research and exercise your two favorite amendments – vote and freedom of speech – this upcoming November!