Nomination in sight as Clinton adds to delegate lead

Hillary Clinton expanded her delegates lead over rival Bernie Sanders on Tuesday night and moved close to the magic number needed to win the Democratic presidential nomination.



Clinton will end the night with about 1,622 delegates and 519 superdelegates, bringing her total to 2,141, according to the Associated Press count.



{mosads}Democrats need 2,383 to win the nomination, leaving Clinton about 242 short. 



Unfortunately for Clinton, there are only about 300 pledged delegates up for grabs in contests between now and June 7.

That means she’s not likely to cross the threshold until that day, when California and five other states will award nearly 700 pledged delegates.


Overall, Clinton only needs to win about 24 percent of the remaining 1,016 delegates up for grabs, making the nomination close to a lock for her.



Sanders has vowed to continue on to July’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, but he has no realistic path to the nomination.



Including superdelegates, Sanders is 1,062 shy of the 2,383 needed to win the nomination.

To win the nomination, Sanders would essentially have to win all of the remaining pledged delegates and pick up the support of a dozen or so superdelegates, either from those already supporting Clinton or the approximately 160 superdelegates who haven’t publicly backed a candidate.

On Tuesday night, Sanders sought to sway the 519 superdelegates already in Clinton’s corner.

At a rally in West Virginia, Sanders argued that he’s more electable than Clinton in the fall.

“The reason we are doing so much better against Republican candidates is that not only are we winning an overwhelming majority of Democratic votes, but we are winning independent votes and some Republican votes as well,” Sanders said.

“That is a point I hope the delegates to the Democratic convention fully understand,” he said. “In a general election, everyone — Democratic, independent and Republican — has the right to vote for president. The elections are not closed primaries.”