Bernie Sanders beats Hillary Clinton in stunning Michigan primary upset

Bernie Sanders beats Hillary Clinton in stunning Michigan primary upset

Vermont senator had trailed in polls by more than 20 points but opposition to free trade and growing African American support won votes in rust-belt state

Bernie Sanders: ‘What tonight means it that the Bernie Sanders campaign, the people’s revolution that we are talking about, is strong in every part of the country.’ Photograph: Alan Diaz/AP

Dan Roberts in Miami and Ben Jacobs and Lauren Gambino in Detroit

Wednesday 9 March 2016 04.38 GMTLast modified on Wednesday 9 March 201604.43 GMT

Bernie Sanders pulled off his biggest win of the Democratic presidential race on Tuesday, defeating Hillary Clinton in the Michigan primary on a night which also confirmed strong anti-establishment support for Donald Trump in the battle for the Republican nomination.  

In an industrial state hit hard by the decline of manufacturing, the Vermont senator’s consistent opposition to free trade deals appears to have been a decisive factor, but he also showed signs of weakening Clinton’s dominance among African American voters.

The shock victory – by a margin of around 3 percentage points when his win was first projected by Associated Press – comes despite Sanders trailing the former secretary of state by an average of 21 points in recent opinion polling.  [Read more]