Clinton Wins New Jersey, California

This essentially ends the Democratic primary season.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, center, arrives to speak at a get out the vote event at Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky., Monday, May 16, 2016.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, center, arrives to speak at a get out the vote event at Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky., Monday, May 16, 2016.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton claimed a historical victory last night, winning the favor of five of the six states that held contests, including New Jersey and California. This essentially ends the Democratic Presidential Primary season.

Clinton, who also won the vote of Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota, is now the presumptive nominee and the first woman to top a U.S. major-party ticket. Candidate Bernie Sanders won in North Dakota.

New Jersey and California held the largest number of delegates of the six states remaining – New Jersey with 126 delegates and California with 475. Clinton was heavily favored to win New Jersey, but polling had gotten closer in more-liberal California.

Clinton’s victory in the Golden State will give her a surge as she moves into the general election.

Clinton addressed supporters at an impassioned rally in Brooklyn shortly before 10 p.m. She walked out to a video featuring historic footage of the Women’s Rights Movement and talked about “shattering the glass ceiling.”

The AP Monday named Clinton the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee when she reached — based on counting Clinton’s pledged delegates (those won in primaries and caucuses) and a poll of superdelegates — the necessary 2,383 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. This would make her the first woman to be the nominee of a major American political party.

The nominee will be officially declared at the Democratic Convention in July (brace yourselves, Philly) when the remaining delegates and superdelegates cast their votes.

(Confused about the whole thing? Wondering how delegates and superdelegates work? Here’s a video from Vox that might help and a delegate tracker via the AP and NPR.)

Sanders is holding out hope until the convention, he announced at an equally dramatic rally in California, though the New York Times reports that he’s planning to lay off half his campaign team.

President Obama called both candidates last night, to congratulate Clinton and to thank Sanders for “energizing Americans,” NPR reports.

Oh, and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump won all five states that held GOP contests Tuesday. No surprise there.

 

Follow @ClaireSasko on Twitter.