Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) predicted Sunday that Hillary Clinton would not receive enough pledged delegates to cinch the Democratic Party’s nomination, and that the Democratic Party’s July convention in Philadelphia would be contested.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Sanders predicated that the remaining state contests will not produce the required 2,383 delegates for the Democratic frontrunner and that she “will need superdelegates to take her over the top at the convention in Philadelphia. In other words, it will be a contested convention,” he said according to Politico.
Sanders delivered his remarks just ahead of Tuesday’s Indiana primary. He also complained that despite having won the popular vote in Washington, he has no delegates to show for it. Sanders has 1,318 delegates so far, with 39 superdelegates. Clinton leads him with 1,645 delegates and 520 superdelegates.
Despite making tremendous gains in his delegate count and surpassing Clinton in fundraising numbers, Sanders confessed that it would prove challenging for him to close in on Clinton. However, he maintained that the “political revolution” he is waging is still going strong.
“For us to win the majority of pledged delegates, we need to win 710 out of the remaining 1083,” Sanders reportedly said. “That is 65 percent. That is, admittedly, a tough road to climb, but not an impossible one. And we intend to fight for every vote and delegate remaining.”
A new NBC News / Wall Street Journal / Maris poll has Clinton leading Sanders by just four points with 50 percent to 46 percent in the Hoosier State. There are 92 delegates at stake in the Indiana Democratic primary race. Of that number, 18 will be awarded proportionally based on the statewide vote.
Indiana is an open primary: anyone can vote, regardless of political party affiliation, even if they are not registered with a political party.
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