Hillary Clinton has secured commitments from the number of delegates she needs to become the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, the Associated Press reports.
An AP count of pledged delegates and its survey of superdelegates show that Clinton has gained the overall support of 2,383 delegates, which is the number necessary to snatch the nomination. According to the newswire, she is expected to formally accept the party’s nomination in July at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, which will make her the first woman to be a major party’s presidential nominee.
The Huffington Post notes that despite the news, Clinton’s campaign is keeping its eye on the prize, and pointing out that there are still many voters left to make their choices known, as voters in California and New Jersey are scheduled to do Tuesday.
“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, according to HuffPost. “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.”
Meanwhile, the campaign of Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, called the announcement “unfortunate,” given the fact that the superdelegates’ vote isn’t set in stone until the convention.
“It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgment, 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,” Sanders spokesperson Michael Briggs said.
“Secretary Clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination,” he continued. “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.”
Read more at the Associated Press and the Huffington Post.