Clinton defeated Sanders in Puerto Rico’s Democrat primary on Sunday, inching her slightly closer to the eventual nomination.
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Heading into Tuesday’s voting, Clinton has 1,812 pledged delegates and the support of 571 of the 714 superdelegates, according to the AP count.
Clinton’s rise to presumptive nominee arrived almost eight years to the day after she conceded her first White House campaign to Barack Obama.
Striding into history, Hillary Clinton will become the first woman to top the presidential ticket of a major USA political party, capturing commitments Monday from the number of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.
Robby Mook, campaign manager for Clinton, recognized the distinction in a statement, but said more work is needed on behalf of the candidate.
That’s a far bigger margin than Obama had in 2008, when he led Clinton by 131 pledged delegates and 105 superdelegates at the point he clinched the nomination.
Sanders immediately responded, insisting no Democrat will lock in the nomination until the Democratic national convention in July because unbound super-delegates can not vote until then.
“Secretary Clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination”, Briggs added. While they can change their minds, those counted in Clinton’s tally have unequivocally told the AP they will support her at the party’s summer convention.
Lightner, in Los Angeles Monday night, attending Clinton’s “She’s with Us” concert, says she hopes party unity follows shortly after.
The future of the presidency now comes down to a battle between Clinton and Republican Donald Trump – two polarizing condidates who have been in the public spotlight for decades but have been only grudgingly accepted by their parties’ voters.
The AP count of pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses and a survey of the superdelegates shows Clinton with the overall support of the required 2,383.
Trump, for his part, portrays Clinton as a liar who can’t be trusted. Later, NBC News also projected that Clinton had hit the magic number to clinch the White House bid.
But it’s a mark of the hold the Clintons have maintained on the Democratic Party and their sheer political longevity that she will go to Philadelphia next month to accept the nomination at the Democratic National Convention. The Associated Press reckons she has already gathered sufficient “super-delegates”.
Trump also continues to struggle to build out a robust general election campaign staff in battleground states or a national fundraising network, though the real estate mogul insists he can win without the trappings of a traditional campaign.
Clinton is now locked in a close race with Vermont Sen.
Vowing to fight for an equitable economy and to keep Americans safe with her hawkish foreign policy instincts, Clinton noted at her announcement rally on Roosevelt Island, New York, that though she might not be the youngest candidate in the race she would be “youngest woman president in the history of the United States”. But many of them express unease over the businessman’s near-constant barrage of incendiary remarks.
Sanders is hoping California will provide at least a symbolic victory and give the popular progressive enough political capital to influence the Democratic platform at next month’s convention or even a running mate on her ticket.
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The opening nominating clashes in the snows of winter set the tone, from her wafer-thin victory in the Iowa caucuses to her defeat in the New Hampshire primary, for a tight, increasingly bitter nominating race.
