Hillary Clinton can now win the Democratic nomination without superdelegates

Hillary Clinton now has a majority of pledged delegates — (Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Even before anyone voted on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton had enough delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination, according to an Associated Press tally. But that relied on support from superdelegates, who, as Bernie Sanders rightly notes, can change their mind up until the Democratic National Convention. Sanders has said he will continue to press superdelegates to change their vote to him, but it looks like even that avenue will be cut off after California votes are counted. Why? Because Clinton now only needs 27 percent of California's 475 delegates to get a majority of pledged delegates, making superdelegates irrelevant.

Delegate geeks Harry Enten and Nate Silver have looked at the night's results and predicted at FiveThirtyEight that Clinton will get an outright majority of pledged delegates on Tuesday, and The Washington Post's Philip Bump explains why. Going into the night, Sanders needed 500 delegates to get an outright majority, Clinton needed 215. With her wins in New Jersey, New Mexico, and her five delegates in North Dakota, Clinton needed only 129 delegates in California; she will get at least 140, NBC News says. "At this point, Bernie Sanders' last electoral argument is gone," Bump says.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.