As Democrats
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders turn their focus toward California’s battleground, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump focuses on something else: relying on donors for the first time.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders dueled for support ahead of California’s June 7 presidential primary as the Vermont senator sought to boost his long shot odds for the nomination.
Sanders’ campaign launched a $1.5 million ad buy in the state and announced that it would seek a re-canvass in last week’s Kentucky primary, where he trailed Clinton by less than one-half of 1 percent. The re-canvass, which is not a recount, involves reviewing the election results but is unlikely to change the results or the awarding of delegates.
The Democratic hopefuls campaigned in California, where Clinton hopes to make a statement in the contest that will effectively end the primaries and encourage the party to coalesce around her candidacy.
She is targeting Latino and black voters, who have typically backed her in high numbers.
“I can’t do any of this without your help,” Clinton told a crowd of supporters in Los Angeles. “California, I need your help.”
Sanders, meanwhile, unveiled new advertising that will appear in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. The ad urged voters to choose a “new direction” for the Democratic Party.
Sanders hopes that winning a large share of the state’s 475 delegates will give him momentum heading into the party’s Philadelphia convention in July. He is barnstorming the state, holding multiple rallies a day in hopes of connecting directly with grass-roots supporters.
Entering the final contests in June, Clinton leads Sanders by 271 pledged delegates, according to a count by The Associated Press, but the self-described democratic socialist has vowed to soldier on and amass as many delegates as possible.
Clinton holds a substantial lead with party leaders and elected officials, called superdelegates, and is on track to clinch the nomination through the combination of pledged delegates and superdelegates after contests in California, New Jersey and four other states on June 7.