The Associated Press Declares Hillary Clinton the Democratic Presumptive Nominee
Apropos of nothing, the Associated Press called the Democratic primary race for Hillary Clinton on Monday night, declaring her “the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee on the eve of Tuesday’s voting.” The news agency cited a survey of super-delegates, who do not actually vote until the convention.
Clinton herself was cautious about the call. “I got to tell you, 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 told supporters at a rally on Monday. “We have six elections tomorrow, and we’re going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in California.”
The AP’s call relies on its survey of super-delegates, who do not vote until the end of July at the Democratic National Convention.
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.
The AP surveyed the superdelegates repeatedly in the past seven months. 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.
“It takes 2,383 delegates to win the nomination of the Democratic Party, and our count finds that Hillary Clinton has reached that number,” the AP’s U.S. political editor, David Scott, said in a statement to Politico. “Most are pledged delegates won in a primary or caucus. Some are superdelegates, who have unequivocally told AP they will vote for her next month at the party’s convention.”
“Clinton is now the ‘presumptive nominee,’ because according to our count, she now has enough delegates backing her candidacy to win the nomination.”
Bernie Sanders is still running for president, and several states have yet to vote. “Let me just talk to you after the primary here in California where we hope to win,” he said at a press conference on Monday. “Let’s assess where we are after tomorrow.”
(Note: According to Gawker’s count, it could still be O’Malley.)