Advertisement

Clinton nears nomination with win in Puerto Rico

 
Published June 6, 2016

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hillary Clinton overwhelmed Bernie Sanders in Puerto Rico's Democratic presidential primary on Sunday, putting her within striking distance of capturing her party's nomination.

After a blowout victory Saturday in the U.S. Virgin Islands and a decisive win in the U.S. territory, Clinton is now fewer than 30 delegates short of the 2,383 needed to win the nomination, according to an Associated Press count.

"We just won Puerto Rico! ¡Gracias a la Isla del Encanto por esta victoria!" tweeted Clinton. As the race was called, Clinton was on stage on Sacramento, rallying voters in California.

As the results from Puerto Rico trickled in, Clinton maintained a steady 2-1 lead over Sanders.

While Puerto Rican residents cannot vote in the general election, the island's politics could reverberate into the fall campaign. Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans have left the island to escape a dismal economy, with many resettling in the key electoral battleground of Florida.

Clinton and Sanders spent Sunday in California, the biggest prize among several states voting on Tuesday. Clinton told an enthusiastic crowd at Greater St. Paul Baptist Church in Oakland the country is "getting indifferent to the great toll of gun violence," while Sanders made a series of stops in Los Angeles before an evening rally in San Diego.