Obama, Sanders spoke by phone Sunday
Facing elimination, Bernie Sanders declined Monday to look past primary contests in California and five other states as Hillary Clinton inches closer to securing enough delegates to become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Clinton is favored to win contests in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend, as well as in New Jersey on Tuesday, when she’s expected surpass the 2,383-delegate threshold before voting ends in California.
Hillary Clinton will become the first woman to top the presidential ticket of a major United States political party, according to an Associated Press count.
So far, Clinton has clinched a total of 2,354 votes (superdelegates: 547, pledged: 1,807) and Sanders has garnered 1,561 (superdelegates: 46, pledged:1,515).
She beat then-Illinois senator Barack Obama with almost 68% of the vote. But her path to Washington has also been potentially blocked by Bernie Sanders. A win in any state would push Clinton over the edge, though Sen.
Clinton could lock the Democratic nomination on Tuesday when South Dakota, North Dakota, California, Montana, New Jersey and New Mexico hold primaries with a total of 694 delegates up for grabs. She won 29 primaries and caucuses to his 21.
“What we’re saying is that she will have the delegates to be the nominee”.
Sanders’ campaign appeared to burn through cash to get to the final nominating contests, ending April with just $5.8 million on hand, compared with Clinton’s $30 million. “The media is in error when they lump super delegates with pledged delegates”.
In a letter to fellow Senate Democrats, Sanders said the House bill to create a federal control board and allow some restructuring of the territory’s $70 billion debt would make “a awful situation even worse”.
Mrs Clinton has said she has serious concerns about the board’s powers, but believes the legislation should move forward, or “too many Puerto Ricans will continue to suffer”.
Both Democratic presidential candidates have boosted their campaign presence in the key state, which will allocate 475 pledged delegates. Rallying supporters at City College of San Francisco’s Mission Center, Sanders said Clinton’s voters were more reliable and he would need a large turnout among recently registered voters, independents and young people.
Based on the popular vote alone before today’s contests, Clinton should be adjudged the victor.
Her nomination would become official during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Some Clinton fans, in particular, fear the continued intra-party fight will risk Democrats’ unity ahead of the general election, leaving them vulnerable against presumed Republican nominee Donald Trump. But Clinton did not mention Sanders at all during her speech - a sharp contrast to all the times she called out Donald Trump.
CNN called the race with the former secretary of state leading Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders by 64 per cent to 35 per cent, and 22 per cent of the vote counted.
“What’s at stake is what keeps the Sanders cause alive”, said Bruce Cain, a politics professor at Stanford University in California.
“According to the news, we are on the brink of a historic, historic, unprecedented moment but we still have work to do don’t we?” she said.