Hillary Clinton Secures Democratic Party Nomination
Hillary Clinton Secures Democratic Party Nomination
Democratic Presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., laughs at a remark by moderator Chris Matthews, not shown, while addressing a forum sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Tuesday, June 19, 2007, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington. AFSCME is the largest union for workers in the public service with 1.4 million members nationwide. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Hillary Clinton has clinched the Democratic nomination for US president after reaching the required number of delegates, an AP tally suggests.
The count puts Mrs Clinton on 2,383 – the number needed to make her the presumptive nominee.
She will become the first female nominee for a major US political party.
But rival Bernie Sanders said Mrs Clinton had not won as she was dependent on superdelegates who could not vote until July’s party convention.
Mrs Clinton reached the threshold with a big win in Puerto Rico and a burst of last-minute support from superdelegates, AP said late on Monday night.
Superdelegates are party insiders who can pledge their support for a candidate ahead of the convention but do not formally vote for them until the convention itself.
The announcement came ahead of Democratic primaries on Tuesday in California, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and New Jersey. Polling stations opened at 06:00 local time (10:00 GMT) in New Jersey. The last ones to close will be in California at 03:00 GMT Wednesday.
