Tuesday's outcome was never in doubt: Hillary Clinton held a 54-point lead over Sanders in the most recent state poll. | Getty Clinton crushes Sanders in Mississippi

Hillary Clinton has won the Mississippi Democratic primary, according to the Associated Press, defeating Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Tuesday's outcome was never in doubt: Clinton held a 54-point lead over Sanders in the most recent state poll, conducted by Magellan Strategies on Feb. 29. More than 60 percent of Mississippi voters were African-American, according to exit polls — and she won this group handily, 89 percent to 11 percent.


Clinton's Mississippi victory follows robust wins across the delegate-heavy states of the South: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee.

She was endorsed by more than 50 Mississippi mayors, including Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber, after she expressed concern over lead-polluted water in Jackson. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, also backed Clinton.

Clinton campaigned in two churches in the bordering city of Memphis, Tennessee, last month, and her husband stumped for her at Jackson State University and at a coffee shop there last Thursday. Clinton also called into a radio station in the Jackson market on Monday morning.

Mississippi awards its 41 Democratic delegates on a proportional basis.

View final results: http://politi.co/1oGcEFv

2016 delegate tracker: http://politi.co/2176fPm