Hillary Clinton Has The Delegates To Clinch Democratic Nomination

Hillary Clinton has officially reached the number of delegates necessary to secure the Democratic presidential nomination, the Associated Press reported Monday evening.

According to the Associated Press’ count of pledged delegates and its survey of unpledged delegates, also known as superdelegates, the former secretary of state has reached the 2,383-delegate threshold necessary to lock the nomination. CBS also announced the call.

Upon being officially nominated at the Democratic National Convention in July, Clinton will be the first woman to be a major party’s presidential nominee.

The news comes on the eve of the final round of primary contests between Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), including primaries in California and New Jersey.

Sanders, meanwhile, insists the race isn’t over. 

Despite the apparent victory, Clinton’s campaign sought to downplay the news, likely to encourage California and New Jersey voters to still head to the polls on Tuesday. While her delegate lead appears secure, a loss to Sanders in either state would end her primary campaign on a low note and likely would fuel Sanders supporters’ desire for a contested convention.

“This is an important milestone, but there are six states that are voting Tuesday, with millions of people heading to the polls, and Hillary Clinton is working to earn every vote,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement. “We look forward to Tuesday night, when Hillary Clinton will clinch not only a win in the popular vote, but also the majority of pledged delegates.”

In a statement, Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said it was “unfortunate” that the AP and other outlets are counting unpledged delegates ahead of the convention, and said the Sanders campaign would continue to work to convince those delegates that “Bernie is by far the strongest candidate against Donald Trump.”

“It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgement, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee’s clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer,” he said. “Secretary Clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination. She will be dependent on superdelegates who do not vote until July 25 and who can change their minds between now and then. They include more than 400 superdelegates who endorsed Secretary Clinton 10 months before the first caucuses and primaries and long before any other candidate was in the race.”

This story is developing.. Check back for up-dates..