The race for the Democratic presidential nomination came into greater focus Monday night with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly securing the delegates and superdelegates needed to clinch the nomination. But for the previous 48 hours it was no holds barred for Clinton and Bernie Sanders in California, which many thought could give her the decisive win Tuesday.
Clinton will watch the California primary results roll in from New York City, but she made multiple stops throughout the Golden State over the weekend and into Monday. On Sunday, she visited Vallejo. She then spoke before a packed crowd at Sacramento City College in her last major rally in Northern California.
On Monday, Clinton made campaign stops in Los Angeles and Long Beach. It was there that she learned the Democratic race had been called for her. The Sanders campaign isn’t happy about it, however. In a statement Monday, campaign spokesman Michael Briggs said it was wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually cast their votes at the convention.
Sanders held his final campaign rally in San Diego Sunday. He headed to Emeryville for a speech Monday morning and eventually made his way to a large rally at Crissy Field in San Francisco.
"We are doing phenomenally well with the people who are the future of this country," Sanders told supporters. "My job in the next 24 hours is to win California."
Sanders has worked hard to achieve that end. Since mid-May, the Vermont senator has held 39 rallies in the state from San Diego to Sacramento and Chico to Cloverdale, according to the campaign. In all, they attracted some 227,000 supporters.
Bernie isn’t heading home any time soon. Sanders’ campaign says he will hold an election night rally in Santa Monica.
Read more about the final campaign blitz here.