Primary updates: Hillary Clinton embraces her historic nomination even as Sanders pledges to fight on

Hillary Clinton has won California’s Democratic primary, sending her into the general election with a convincing victory in the state with more delegates up for grabs than any other.

Her opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, campaigned hard here as he sought a win that would persuade super delegates that he was the candidate with the best chance to beat Donald Trump in the general election. Sanders has vowed to stay in the race to try to wrest the nomination from Clinton at the party convention next month.

A defiant Bernie Sanders said Tuesday night that he will take his campaign to next week’s presidential primary in Washington, D.C., and then on to the Democratic National Convention.

“Next Tuesday we continue the fight,� Sanders told a large crowd of cheering supporters gathered in Santa Monica. “We are going to fight hard to win the primary in Washington, D.C., and then we take our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to Philadelphia.�

Sanders spoke hours after Hillary Clinton claimed the Democratic nomination after victories in New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota gave her the delegates she needs to secure the nomination on the first ballot at next month’s convention.

Clinton was also beating Sanders in early returns in California. The Vermont senator campaigned vigorously in California in recent weeks and repeatedly said he thought he could win.

Sanders did not mention that Clinton secured the nomination, but did say that he spoke with the former secretary of State Tuesday evening and congratulated her on her state victories. That led the crowd to erupt in boos.

Sanders, who has faced mounting pressure to drop out of the race amid calls for Democratic party unity, said he was committed to stopping presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump from taking the White House.

“We cannot allow the right wing to control our government,� he said. “We will not allow Donald Trump to become president of the United States.

But he said his movement’s goal is larger than defeating Trump: “It is transforming our country,� he said.

“I am pretty good at arithmetic and I know that right in front of us is a very, very steep fight,� he said, “but we will continue to fight for every vote and delegate.�

Sanders repeatedly described his campaign as a movement that was larger than one man.

When the crowd chanted his name, Sanders responded: “But you all know it is more than Bernie. It is all of us together. It is what this movement is about … millions of people from coast to coast standing up and looking around them and knowing that we can do much better as a nation.�

California had not been called by the time Sanders spoke. Clinton held a strong lead in early returns, but Sanders said he suspected that the gap would “significantly diminish.�

He said campaigning across California “has been one of the most moving moments of my life.�

Sanders heads home to Vermont on Wednesday. On Thursday he will meet with President Obama and host a rally in Washington.

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Hillary Clinton supporters gathered Tuesday night in a downtown Los Angeles lounge to toast their candidate winning the Democratic nomination and watch the returns in the California primary.

“I was watching her speech and it was flashing, ‘First woman ever to be the Democratic presidential nominee’ – it’s pretty incredible,� said former City Controller Wendy Greuel, a longtime Clinton supporter who worked in former President Bill Clinton’s administration. “California is looking good in these early numbers. I know it will narrow a little bit, but I think ultimately she’s going to pull it out in California.�

Clinton became the presumptive Democratic nominee before the polls closed in California. But the state is of personal and political importance to the Clintons, Greuel noted.

“It’s symbolic to be able to have a state like California support the Clintons, and obviously, it’s an important state for the kind of financial support she has had,� Greuel said. “This is a state that represents the future of this country, and to have a great win in this state I think is a big deal.�

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) added that a strong showing in the state here would help Clinton win over the supporters of Democratic rival Bernie Sanders.

“We’ve got a historic mission and that is preventing Donald Trump from going into the White House in any way except as a tourist,� Sherman said.

Supporters at the Edison sipped cocktails and watched the returns as they waited for some of Clinton’s top supporters in the state to speak, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Some discussed how they planned to help Clinton in the general election.

Patrick Ryan, a former diplomat who served under Clinton when she was secretary of State, said he plans to get involved in an effort to boost voter participation among the 5 million to 7 million Americans who live overseas. Very few vote, said the 47-year-old, who had a sweatshirt slung over its shoulders that read: “I’m fighting for her.�

“We’re going to do all we can,� said Ryan, who lives in Marina del Rey.

The orderly wind-down of the Democratic primary appears to be underway.

President Obama spoke Tuesday night with both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and congratulated Clinton “for securing the delegates necessary to clinch the Democratic nomination for president,� according to a statement released by the White House just before midnight Eastern time.

“Her historic campaign inspired millions and is an extension of her lifelong fight for middle-class families and children,� the statement added.

Obama, meanwhile, thanked Sanders for “energizing millions of Americans� with his campaign. And at his request, Obama agreed to meet with the Vermont senator at the White House on Thursday “to continue their conversation about the significant issues at stake in this election that matter most to America’s working families.�

No endorsement was offered, but the message was clear: The most super of superdelegates believes Clinton is the nominee and will engage with Sanders to try to close ranks.

Just as Hillary Clinton delivered an emotional victory speech in which she claimed the Democratic presidential nomination, the Bernie Sanders campaign hit send on an email that suggested Sanders will fight on.

The Vermont senator plans to host a rally Thursday night in Washington, D.C., the site of the only remaining Democratic primary, according to an email sent to Sanders’ supporters living in the nation’s capital.

Sanders has repeatedly vowed to fight Clinton for the nomination all the way to the Democratic national convention in July, despite the fact that several media outlets have determined Clinton has the delegates needed to secure it. The email about the Washington rally asks supporters to “support the Bernie revolution.�

“Join us for a conversation about the issues that matter: making college tuition-free, getting big money out of politics, combating climate change, and much more,� it said.

Sanders, who campaigned across across California on Tuesday, urging voters to go to the polls in the state’s Democratic primary, was to speak about the election results at a rally in Santa Monica late Tuesday night.

(Los Angeles Times / Associated Press)

A presidential candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the White House. Most states predictably vote red or blue, but a small handful swing either way and make up the main election battlegrounds. What does it take to win the presidency?

Speaking in a refurbished Brooklyn Navy Yard building with an actual glass ceiling, Hillary Clinton celebrated becoming the first woman to be a major U.S. political party’s presidential nominee.

“Thanks to you, we’ve reached a milestone: the first time in our nation’s history that a woman will be a major party’s nominee,� she told cheering supporters in the Duggal Greenhouse. “Tonight’s victory is not about one person. It belongs to generations of women and men who struggled and sacrificed and made this moment possible.�

After paying homage to the Suffragettes, who paved the way for American women to vote, Clinton turned to her Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, and called his effort “extraordinary.�

“He has spent his long career in public service fighting for progressive causes and principles, and he has excited millions of voters, especially young people,� she said. “And let there be no mistake: Sen. Sanders, his campaign and the vigorous debate we’ve had about how to raise incomes, reduce inequality and increase upward mobility has been very good for the Democratic Party and America.�

Clinton urged Sanders supporters to join her in the battle against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. She declared Trump unfit for office and ticked off a list of groups that Trump has offended, including women, Latinos and the disabled.

“He wants to win by stoking fear and rubbing salt in wounds, and reminding us daily just how great he is,� Clinton said.

A day after media outlets declared her the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton embraced the mantle herself at a rally in Brooklyn, N.Y., surrounded by supporters.

Before polls even closed for voters in the California primary, the night’s biggest prize, Clinton acknowledged the historic moment and her place in it.

“We’ve reached a milestone — the first time in our nation’s history that a woman will be a major party’s nominee,� she said.

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Donald Trump ended the day by doing something he rarely does: reading a prime-time speech from a teleprompter. Here are some highlights.

Donald Trump ended one of his toughest days of the campaign by doing something he rarely does: reading a prime-time speech from a teleprompter.

The 17-minute address, delivered Tuesday to supporters at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester, was designed to reassure the GOP, with a promise to fight special interests and deliver a major broadside attack on Hillary Clinton next week.

“I understand the responsibility of carrying the mantle,� Trump said on a night he was expected to win California and four other GOP primaries. “And I will never ever let you down.�

The party was in full panic Tuesday over how to deal with a candidate who appeared uninterested in the advice of party leaders and some in his own campaign.

“I will make you proud of our party and our movement,� Trump said.

Trump only alluded to some of the controversy he has engendered in recent days by attacking a federal judge of Mexican descent, and the questions that have arisen within his party about his temperament.

“Some people say I’m too much of a fighter,� Trump said. “My preference is always peace, however.�

Trump tried to turn his combative reputation into a positive, pledging to fight against special interests and a rigged system and in favor of American values.

The speech was largely devoted to uniting his party. But Trump also reached out to Bernie Sanders supporters in hopes they will abandon Democrats once Hillary Clinton secures the nomination. He spoke repeatedly about his position on what he calls bad trade deals, an issue that is also a big motivator of Sanders’ backers.

Trump’s harshest attacks against Clinton were on foreign policy, blaming her for empowering Iran and making the Middle East more dangerous. He also discussed controversies surrounding the Clinton Foundation, alleging that Clinton traded donations for favors to foreign governments.

“Hillary Clinton turned the State Department into her private hedge fund,� he said.

Hillary Clinton was reserved when she was named the presumptive Democratic nominee last night, mindful that six states including California still had to vote on Tuesday.

But her Twitter feed was updated Tuesday night, just before she took the stage as the first woman in line to be nominated for president by a major party, with celebratory depictions representing the historic nature of the evening.

When Rep. Renee Ellmers received Donald Trump’s endorsement over the weekend, she quickly distributed to supporters an audio recording of the billionaire businessman lauding her campaign.

“I need her help in Washington so we can defeat ISIS, secure our border and bring back jobs, and frankly, so many other things,� Trump said in the recording, which also went out as a robo-call to voters in Ellmers’ central North Carolina congressional district.

But Trump’s support did not help Ellmers hold onto her job in Washington.

On Tuesday, she was trounced in her primary by Rep. George Holding in a clash of incumbents in a redrawn congressional district.

Ellmers, who was elected in 2010 with a wave of tea party support, was the first woman in Congress to endorse Trump. And, in return, the presumptive Republican nominee offered the congresswoman his backing.

In recent days, as he’s suffered strong backlash for his complaints about a Mexican American judge overseeing a lawsuit against his Trump University real estate seminars, some Trump backers have eased their support for him.

“After much consideration, I have concluded that Donald Trump has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world,� GOP Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois said Tuesday, withdrawing his support from Trump amid his own tough reelection battle.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who briefly ran for president but has long opposed Trump, also told reporters this week that his Republican allies should look into withdrawing their support for Trump as he continues to make inflammatory comments that could hurt the party up and down the ballot this fall.

Holding, the congressman who defeated Ellmers, has said he’ll support the presumptive GOP nominee – at least for now.

(Frederic J. Brown / AFP/Getty Images)

Hillary Clinton has been declared the winner of New Jersey’s Democratic primary, solidifying her status as the first woman in U.S. history to be a major party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

Her rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has vowed to press on nonetheless. He is counting on a win later Tuesday in California, which has more delegates than any other state, to boost his argument that he could win the nomination by contesting the party’s national convention next month.

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Hillary Clinton stood poised to claim a spot in history Tuesday as the first woman chosen to lead a major party’s presidential ticket. Bernie Sanders hoped a win in California would undermine Clinton’s support and allow him to unseat her at next month’s Democratic convention.

Six states voted in the second-to-last week of the primary season, among them Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota. But the biggest prize, by far, was California, which offered 475 pledged delegates, nearly twice as many as the other states combined.

Beyond those numbers, California took on overriding symbolic import.

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In a political season filled with promises of revolution, something revolutionary happened: A woman has won a major party’s presidential nomination.

That historic occurrence, overshadowed somewhat by everything else that has happened in an election year that has wildly defied expectations, will shape the general election clash to come. It sets up a November battle between presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump that will tread heavily on issues of gender.

Those issues will dominate the election for at least two reasons. It will be the first time a woman has led a ticket in a presidential general election, and the two candidates already have been jousting over women and their roles.

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Hillary Clinton will mark the historic moment of becoming the first female presidential nominee from a major party with this montage during a speech at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Tuesday.

The video, which intersperses footage of Clinton with clips of key periods in civil rights history, casts the presumptive nominee as a progressive crusader as she seeks to win the support of Bernie Sanders’ voters and unify the Democratic Party.

Donald Trump issued a long statement Tuesday neither apologizing nor retracting his race-based criticism of a federal judge, but rather insisting that the questions he raised were justified.

Trump noted that he has friends and employees who are of “Mexican and Hispanic descent.�

“It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage,� Trump said.

“I do not feel that one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial, but, based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial,� Trump said.

The statement was notable both for Trump’s attempt to backtrack somewhat from his caustic criticism of the judge and for the lack of bombast that usually characterizes Trump’s news releases.

His racial criticism of Judge Gonzalo Curiel unleashed a firestorm, leading to open revolt among Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Trump had said the Indiana-born jurist had a “conflict of interest� because Trump wants to build a wall to deter illegal immigration and Curiel’s parents are Mexican immigrants.

Earlier Tuesday, Speaker Paul D. Ryan called Trump’s criticism “a textbook definition of a racist comment.�

And even GOP leader Mitch McConnell, in a rare public rebuke, urged Trump to “quit attacking� minority groups and “get on message.�

Trump’s lengthy statement Tuesday appeared as an attempt to deflect the criticism without backing off his criticisms.

He stood by his initial assertion that Curiel — who was appointed to the state court by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and to the federal bench by President Obama — was not fair, even though Trump has not sought to have him removed from the Trump University case.

“Given my unique circumstances as nominee of the Republican Party and the core issues of my campaign that focus on illegal immigration, jobs and unfair trade, I have concerns as to my ability to receive a fair trial,� Trump said.

“Questions were raised regarding the Obama-appointed judge’s impartiality. It is a fair question. I hope it is not the case.�

Trump appeared to want the last word on the subject, but that seemed unlikely.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

It was yet another election day slap in the face for Californians on Tuesday: Hours before voters were to cast ballots that one presidential candidate promised would upend the race, the media declared that the race was actually over.

Once again, the presidential primary has been decided elsewhere.

“Wait, didn’t Hillary already win?� asked Bernie Sanders supporter Pedro Gomez, an Uber driver in Los Angeles. He was confused about whether to even bother voting.

She did the Associated Press declared Monday night that Hillary Clinton had, indeed, amassed all the delegates she needed. On the GOP side, Donald Trump was already the winner by the time Californians got to have their say.

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That sound you’re hearing is Republican Party leaders’ stomachs churning as they await another high-profile speech from their presumptive presidential nominee.

Donald Trump was preparing to speak during prime time at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester, north of New York City, after his expected victories in Tuesday night’s primaries. The golf course, incidentally, is not far from Hillary Clinton’s homestead in Chappaqua, a reminder that the two will be competing more directly as Clinton assumes the mantle of presumptive Democratic nominee.

Trump has weathered a tumultuous period since securing the delegates necessary to win the GOP nomination, highlighted by his comments last week casting doubt on the ability of a federal judge to treat him fairly because of the judge’s Mexican heritage. In one of many televised follow-up interviews in which Trump has repeated that assertion, he suggested Sunday that a Muslim judge also might be biased against him.

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House Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s attempt Tuesday to roll out an anti-poverty plan was quickly overshadowed by Donald Trump’s impolitic assault on an American-born judge’s Mexican heritage.

“Claiming a person can’t do their job because of their race is sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment,� Ryan told reporters in an African American neighborhood of Washington, where he unveiled the first part of a new GOP policy agenda.

Ryan, who reluctantly endorsed Trump last week, acknowledged that such outbursts from the presumptive GOP presidential nominee “undercut� the “better-way agenda� Republicans in Congress are trying to present to voters.

On Monday, Trump continued his attacks against U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing a fraud lawsuit against the now-defunct Trump University. Trump said the Indiana-born judge is bias because his parents were Mexican immigrants and Trump has proposed building a wall along the Mexican border to stop illegal immigration.

Though Ryan and most other GOP leaders have condemned Trump’s remark, the House speaker said Republicans had better a chance of getting GOP goals enacted into law with Trump in the White House than with Democrat Hillary Clinton, and that he was “confident� Trump was on board with most of his goals.

“We have more common ground on the policy issues of the day, and we have more likelihood of getting our policies enacted with him than with her,� Ryan said.

Ryan said he has also talked with Trump about the “tone� the candidate uses on the campaign trail.

The “better-way agenda� -- once dubbed the “Confident America� project -- is intended to present a series of ideas that Republicans can campaign on this fall.

Ryan said he has had “extensive� conversations about the agenda with Trump.

Notably missing from the policy list are proposals on immigration and trade -- two areas where Ryan and Trump disagree.

The poverty agenda is in many ways a retread of past Ryan budgets -- emphasizing work requirements before the poor can gain welfare benefits.

Next up is a defense policy agenda, scheduled to be released Thursday, followed by proposals on healthcare and taxes.

But Ryan has struggled to corral rank-and-file Republicans for a common agenda, and there is no guarantee any of the proposals can be passed by his House majority.

Moreover, Senate Republicans have shown little enthusiasm for the effort.

It has been nearly a year since Hillary Clinton formally launched her second White House bid from an island with sweeping views of the New York skyline.

But as Clinton prepares to accept the mantle of presumptive nominee Tuesday with a similar backdrop at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, her campaign staffers are looking at another speech eight years ago to the day as they try to put a sometimes-bitter Democratic primary race behind them.

“When I started this race, I intended to win back the White House and make sure we have a president who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity and progress. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do, by ensuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009,� Clinton said on June 7, 2008, days after the final votes were cast in the race.

The desire to now bring Democrats and independents who had been drawn to Bernie Sanders’ campaign behind Clinton was evident in how Clinton’s campaign reacted Monday night when the Associated Press projected that she had clinched the nomination, based on fresh pledges from superdelegates.

The key moment, her campaign argued, will be Tuesday night when she clinches the majority of pledged delegates — a milestone that means Sanders could only wrest the nomination away from her by relying on the very superdelegate system his allies have argued is undemocratic. That moment is likely to come after the polls close at 8 p.m. EDT in New Jersey, where the former secretary of State is a heavy favorite.

As the primary phase of the campaign winds down, the Clinton team is taking stock. A campaign official said she has now held 419 public events in 42 states and territories since becoming a candidate. The official said volunteers have made 16 million door knocks and phone calls, while the candidate herself has released 201 pages worth of policy proposals.

Though the focus Tuesday will be in Brooklyn, the campaign also says there will be watch parties in a dozen other states, mainly November battlegrounds.

Clinton said in an interview Monday with Rachel Maddow that she’ll quickly turn to the task ahead after Tuesday.

“I will be reaching out [to Bernie Sanders] after tomorrow night because I obviously want to unify the party, and as I just said, we have so much more in common. And we face a very serious threat from Donald Trump,� she said.

Hillary Clinton may have famously declared that she came close to breaking the glass ceiling in her 2008 run for president, but Donald Trump says he deserves credit for the same — for helping women achieve success in construction.

“I was the one that really broke the glass ceiling on behalf of women more than anybody in the construction industry,� Trump said Monday on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.� “And my relationship, I think, is going to end up being very good with women.�

Trump, the GOP’s presumptive nominee, continues to fight accusations that he mistreats women. A new Boston Globe report shows that Trump’s campaign paid women about 35% less than men. Trump often defends himself by pointing to women he has promoted at his companies.

Nancy Pelosi endorsed Hillary Clinton on Tuesday ahead of voting in the California primary, the first female former House speaker backing the first female presidential nominee of a major party.

“It’s fabulous that we would have a woman president, and I believe she will walk into that Oval Office one of the best prepared people to do so in our country’s history,� Pelosi said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.�

“However, it’s because she is the best, not because she’s a woman. However, having said that -- pretty exciting,� said Pelosi, now House minority leader.

The San Francisco Democrat had withheld her endorsement as the party’s long primary battle played out, saying voters should decide the outcome. She said Tuesday that she believed Clinton rival Bernie Sanders would play a “constructive� role moving forward.

“The matter should be determined by the voters in the state,� said Pelosi, who is also a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention.

“Bernie knows better than anyone what’s on the line in the election and that we at some point have to unify as we go forward. He wants to influence the platform,� she said. “He’ll go forward in a way that will be constructive to the party.�

We’re almost there, the end of the line. Voters in California and five other states -- New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana -- cast ballots Tuesday in the final big round of primaries in the battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Here’s what we’re watching for.

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Racing from close quarters to mass rallies, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders churned across California on Monday as the former secretary of State made history — becoming the first woman to clinch a major party’s presidential nomination.

The Associated Press, which closely tracks the delegate count, said late Monday that enough of the uncommitted had swung behind Clinton to give her the nomination.

She declined to claim the prize, however, so as not to dampen Tuesday’s turnout.

“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?� a beaming Clinton told supporters at a boisterous rally in a basketball gym at Long Beach City College. “We have six elections tomorrow and we’re going to fight for every single vote, especially right here in California.�

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