Hillary Clinton won the D.C. Democratic primary on Tuesday night, marking the end of 2016 primary politics and a turn to the general election.
Although no polling was done among D.C. Democrats before they headed to the polls on Tuesday, the demographics favored Clinton. The city is over 45 percent African-American and black Democrats have emerged as a critical voting bloc for the former secretary of state. She was also likely to be the favorite of many Democrats working in government.
Bernie Sanders has pledged to stay in the race until the Democratic National Convention in July, but there are now no more opportunities to increase his pledged delegate total through the primaries and caucuses. Instead the campaign hopes to focus their supporters on influencing the Democratic Party platform and championing progressive causes in down the ballot races.
“If the campaign just goes away, think of all the Bernie delegates out there. If he just poof goes away, where does all that energy and enthusiasm go? It’s not just about him it’s also about providing support and leadership,” a senior Sanders campaign staffer told the Washington Examiner. “Someone needs to lead these people and [Sanders] has a scary fine line to walk.”
As voters went to the polls Sanders met with Senate Democrats and gave a news conference in which he announced his campaign would continue to fight on until Philadelphia. On Tuesday night he is scheduled to meet with Clinton to discuss the future of the party.
After winning the majority of D.C.’s 20 delegates, Clinton can now fully turn her attention to a general election battle against Donald Trump. She has already begun campaigning in crucial swing states, holding rallies in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia this week.
