Hillary Clinton is Democratic Party’s Presumptive Nominee

By Kenrya Rankin Jun 08, 2016

After winning four of six democratic primaries yesterday (June 7), former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic party. She won 372 delegates yesterday, putting her at 2,184 pledged delegates. That, combined with the 571 pledged superdelegates reported by The Associated Press, puts her at 2,755 total delegates. She needed 2,383 to best opponent Bernie Sanders.

In a move that made some critics question its relationship with the Clinton campaign, The Associated Press actually called the race for Clinton on Monday (June 6), ahead of the primaries. The news agency wrote that its poll of superdelegates showed that she already had the votes to win.

Clinton gave a victory speech last night in New York City:

She will drop the word “presumptive” from her title at the Democratic National Convention, which will be held in Philadelphia, July 25 – 28. In the meantime, Sanders—who won in North Dakota and Montana last night—says he will continue his race at least through the final primary of the season, which will be held in Washington D.C. on June 14.

He gave a speech last night, saying he called to congratulate Clinton on winning California, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, but that he wasn’t done. Per NPR:

“We are going to fight hard to win the primary in Washington, D.C.,” he said. His campaign announced earlier in the evening they would hold a rally Thursday in the nation’s capital. Sanders said after that they would “take our fight” to the convention in Philadelphia—though it was unclear if that would still be as an active candidate. He plans to return to his home in Burlington, Vt., after tonight.

“I am pretty good at arithmetic, and I know that the fight in front of us is a very, very steep fight,” he acknowledged.

The New York Times reports that Sanders will lay off half his staff today (June 7).

Last night, President Barack Obama called both Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders and “congratulated both candidates for running inspiring campaigns that have energized Democrats, brought a new generation of Americans into the political process and shined a spotlight on important policy ideas aimed at making sure our economy and our politics work for everybody, not just those with wealth and power.”

Sanders will meet with the president on Thursday “to continue their conversation about the significant issues at stake in this election that matter most to America’s working families.”

On the other side of the aisle, Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee.