Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in North Dakota Tuesday night, while the fate of his campaign hung in the balance over the results in California and New Jersey.
Sanders’ win comes less than 24 hours after the Associated Press announced Clinton had reached the threshold of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic Party’s nomination.
Before Tuesday, Sanders trailed Clinton by a combined total of more than 800 pledged delegates and superdelegates despite having won 19 of the final 25 state primaries and caucuses.
The Vermont senator, who has typically done well in caucus and Midwestern states, warned voters over the weekend that “the Democratic National Convention will be a contested convention.”
Sanders will likely use his win in North Dakota, in addition to any other states he carries Tuesday night, to continue making the case to superdelegates that he would be a more competitive candidate against presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the general election.
The Peace Garden state, which uniquely does not require voter registration, will send 18 delegates and five superdelegates to the convention in July.
Sanders made three campaign stops in North Dakota ahead of the caucuses Tuesday night, while Clinton deployed her husband to campaign across the state.
