Clinton hails a historic milestone
Hillary Clinton claimed a historic achievement as the first woman chosen as a major party nominee for president Tuesday, an announcement she made after winning New Jersey's Democratic primary.
Hillary Clinton claimed a historic achievement as the first woman chosen as a major party nominee for president Tuesday, an announcement she made after winning New Jersey's Democratic primary.
The Associated Press called the New Jersey race for her over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at 9:04 p.m. Tuesday, a little more than an hour after polls closed.
"Thanks to you, we've reached a milestone," Clinton told supporters Tuesday night not far from her campaign headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y., after the New Jersey race was called and results from other states were coming in, but before California polls closed.
After declaring that "tonight's victory is not about one person," but "generations of women and men who struggled and sacrificed," Clinton gave "thanks, especially, to our friends in New Jersey for such a resounding victory."
With more than 90 percent reporting, Clinton was beating Sanders by a margin of more than 60-40.
Donald Trump, already the presumptive GOP nominee, decisively won New Jersey's Republican primary. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who dropped out of the race last month but were still on the ballot, were far back.
New Jersey had 126 pledged delegates, which are awarded proportionally, at stake in the Democratic primary. On the Republican side, the state's 51 delegates are winner-take-all.
The AP had declared Clinton the presumptive Democratic nominee Monday based on a count that includunfledgedged superdelegates, who are not bound by the results of the primary. (New Jersey has 16.)
Sanders, who has argued that superdelegates should not be counted until the convention, told NBC News on Tuesday that his campaign was "on the phone right now," trying to flip superdelegates.
"Defying history is what this campaign has been about," Sanders said, after saying he was "really disappointed" in the AP's calling the race for Clinton before Tuesday's primaries.
In addition to New Jersey, primaries were held Tuesday in California, New Mexico, Montana, and South Dakota, and North Dakota had a Democratic caucus. New Jersey also had congressional, county, and local races.
The prospect of an already-settled race didn't deter Clinton and Sanders supporters in South Jersey who turned out to vote.
"I don't like close calls," said Kimberly Horvath, 49, who voted for Clinton in Voorhees.
Willingboro residents Alma Johnson, 86, and Robert Johnson, 91, both voted down the ballot line "straight Democrat," including for Clinton.
"I like her because I feel she's been the most qualified," Alma Johnson said. "I think she knows the system and knows what the Democrats stand for."
At Bethel A.M.E. Church in Woodbury, Yolanda Judge, 43, said she voted for Sanders because "he's for my people" - referring to the working poor. But Judge, who works at Kennedy Hospital, said she would vote for Clinton in the fall if she gained the nomination.
Other Sanders supporters said they would not.
In Washington Township, Niki Clark, 57, and her husband, David, 54, both said they would vote for Trump over Clinton in the fall, even though David Clark said he was once laid off from a company after it lost a contract with Trump.
Clinton, he said, was too much "in the pocket of Wall Street" to be effective at governing the banking industry.
Clinton led Trump with New Jersey voters by just four points in a Monmouth University poll last month - 38 percent to 34 percent, with 15 percent undecided.
While New Jersey has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election since 1992, that isn't always reflected in summer polls, when Republicans in statewide elections have tended to do better than the eventual outcome, said Monmouth political analyst Patrick Murray.
He noted the poll finding that 21 percent of New Jersey black voters, who typically vote Democratic, were undecided.
For Clinton, "it would take a major misstep on her part that would affect her not just in New Jersey but nationally for these reticent Democrats not to come home in November," Murray said.
In the run-up to Tuesday, Clinton and her family visited New Jersey frequently. Hillary Clinton "wanted to get her numbers up" as much as possible, Murray said.
Trump's top backer in the state had set expectations for the candidate. In April, Gov. Christie predicted New Jersey would clinch the nomination for Trump - "take it to the bank."
Trump had rivals then. But Cruz and Kasich dropped out in early May, clearing the field.
At South Jersey polls Tuesday, some Trump voters, like Matt Hutchinson, said they didn't settle on the candidate until it was clear he had the nomination.
Hutchinson, who is 31 and a video coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania, said he was fully supporting the billionaire businessman.
Of recent criticisms of Trump, "sometimes he brings it on himself," he said.
In Washington Township, Lynne Desmond, 55, said she had been supporting Trump "from the beginning."
"I'm tired of typical government," said Desmond, who owns a design company. She favored Trump's business background and said he would "do things differently."
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