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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Sam Levin in San Francisco and Tom McCarthy in New York

Clinton declares victory but Sanders vows to fight on – as it happened

Interactive
7 June results

Here's where we stand

Here’s a recap of what went down on this busy election night:

Updated

Streaming out of the hangar into a cool Los Angeles night, some Sanders supporters appeared to heave heard two completely different speeches.

Fong Chuu, 54, a nurse, heard a candidate who planned to fight on until the end, still determined to get the nomination. “We never had any doubt, he’ll go all the way.”

Asked how the campaign can circumvent daunting arithmetic, she shrugged. “He’s a smart man. And there’s been so much corruption, you never know.”

Others echoed this argument: the nomination process has been corrupted – by the media, the Democratic National Committee, big corporations – and that revelation of a smoking gun may yet tilt the nomination Sanders’ way.

However supporters like Mel Horan, 57, an art teacher, heard a coded concession speech in Sanders’ reference to the movement, and the struggle continuing, rather than seizing the White House.

“He’s trying to start his pivot so that the movement survives him, for all this energy to beyond him. He didn’t want to disappoint people tonight but I think he’s starting to prepare.”

The “inevitability of the arithmetic” was clear, said Horan, as ebullient supporters streamed past. “But there is a lot of denial. Many are not hearing what he was saying.”

Sanders wins Montana

Minutes after Bernie Sanders ended his late-night rally in Santa Monica, the candidate won the Montana primary. Votes are still being counted in California, the biggest state of the night.

Sanders said he spoke to Clinton and congratulated her on her victories tonight. He confirmed that he also spoke to Obama, saying, “I look forward to working with him to make sure we move this country forward.”

Sanders’ assessment of his contests tonight:

I want to thank the people of North Dakota. It appears that we will likely win Montana as well. I don’t think anybody knows what will end up here in California, though I suspect the gap will significantly diminish. And if this campaign has proven anything, it has proven that millions of Americans … are prepared to stand up and fight to make this country a much better place.

The Vermont senator ended his short speech with: “Thank you, all. The struggle continues.”

Sanders stays in the race

Sanders in Santa Monica:

Next Tuesday, we continue the fight. ... We are going to fight hard to win the primary in Washington DC. And then we take our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to Philadelphia.”

He added, “We will continue to fight for every vote and every delegate.”

So far, Sanders is delivering a version of his stump speech with no mention of his Democratic rival.

“Our vision will be the future of America. Our campaign from day one has understood some very basic points and that is, first we will not allow rightwing Republicans to control our government,” Sanders said.

“The American people in my view will never support a candidate whose major theme is bigotry, who insults Mexicans, who insults Muslims and women and African Americans. We will not allow Donald Trump to become president of the United States.”

“Our mission is more than just defeating Donald Trump - it is transforming our country,” he continued to loud cheers.

Sanders arrives in Santa Monica

A smiling Bernie Sanders and his wife have arrived to huge cheers in Santa Monica, hours after Hillary Clinton declared herself the Democratic nominee:

Let me thank all of you for being part of the political revolution. I especially want to thank the tens of thousands of volunteers here in the state of California, and I want to thank the people of California for their incredible hospitality. It has been one of the most moving moments of my life to be out throughout this state in beautiful evenings and seeing thousands and thousands of people coming out, people who are prepared to stand up and fight for real change in this country.

Updated

A passionate crowd is chanting “Feel the Bern” and “Si se puede” while fans await Bernie Sanders in the Santa Monica airport hangar, but there’s a mounting sense of foreboding.

Between lulls in chanting and sign-waving, people are peering at the press pen to glimpse rolling headlines on TV monitors. The big campaign screen overlooking the hangar shows only still images of Sanders on the campaign trail, when hope reigned.

“It’s pretty upbeat but there are a lot of die-hard supporters here so even though the numbers don’t look good there’s a lot of positive energy,” said Joanna Lenn, 46, a volunteer. She was bracing for the worst. “If he loses California from my perspective it would be over.”

Amid cheers and a swelling Diana Ross soundtrack (“Baby Love”) Gustavo Ramirez, 45, brandished a placard but he was fighting back tears. A volunteer, he said he spent months rising at 4am for the campaign. “If there’s heartbreak it’s at the corporate system and that just strengthens our resolve,” he said.

He accused the media of bias, saying Spanish language networks largely ignored Sanders. Of six supporters interviewed randomly, all six, unprompted, accused the media of favoring Hillary Clinton.

Updated

The Guardian’s Rory Carroll is inside the Santa Monica rally where Sanders supporters are waiting for their candidate – and bracing for the worst.

Politico has a compelling look inside the Sanders campaign this evening, published just as Clinton was declaring victory in Brooklyn. The story offers a window into how the Vermont senator has been reportedly taking a combative route in the campaign, personally choosing to call Clinton unqualified, to challenge Donald Trump to a debate via Jimmy Kimmel, and writing the defensive statement after conflicts in Nevada:

Sanders is himself filled with resentment, on edge, feeling like he gets no respect -- all while holding on in his head to the enticing but remote chance that Clinton may be indicted before the convention

Read the full story here.

In Santa Monica, Sanders fans waiting for the Vermont senator are now shouting “Bernie or bust” – two hours after Clinton claimed the mantle as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

On Monday, Sanders said he had held 38 events in 34 cities in California, reaching 215,000 people.

Summary

As we wait for Bernie Sanders to speak in Santa Monica and the Democratic race to be called in California, here’s a summary of the night so far:

  • Clinton won South Dakota, New Mexico and New Jersey, and Sanders won the North Dakota caucus.
  • Trump has won New Mexico, South Dakota and New Jersey.
  • President Obama has congratulated Clinton and has announced plans to meet with Sanders – at the senator’s request – signaling a potential end game for the campaign.
  • Clinton declared that she “made history” tonight, and Donald Trump wooed Bernie Sanders in his speech.

Obama congratulates Clinton

The White House has weighed in on Clinton’s “historic campaign” with a late-night statement saying Obama will meet with Sanders on Thursday. The statement does not endorse Clinton. Here it is in full:

Tonight, President Obama called both Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders. The President congratulated both candidates for running inspiring campaigns that have energized Democrats, brought a new generation of Americans into the political process, and shined a spotlight on important policy ideas aimed at making sure our economy and our politics work for everybody, not just those with wealth and power.

The President congratulated Secretary Clinton for securing the delegates necessary to clinch the Democratic Nomination for President. Her historic campaign inspired millions and is an extension of her lifelong fight for middle-class families and children.

The President thanked Senator Sanders for energizing millions of Americans with his commitment to issues like fighting economic inequality and special interests’ influence on our politics.

In addition, at Senator Sanders’ request, the President and Senator Sanders will meet at the White House on Thursday to continue their conversation about the significant issues at stake in this election that matter most to America’s working families. The President looks forward to continuing the conversation with Senator Sanders about how to build on the extraordinary work he has done to engage millions of Democratic voters, and to build on that enthusiasm in the weeks and months ahead.

Updated

Clinton wins South Dakota

AP has called the South Dakota primary for Clinton.

Pundits have noted that the results in North Dakota and South Dakota tonight provide a clear illustration of a trend that has dominated the Democratic race – that caucuses favor Sanders and primaries favor Clinton. The two states have very similar demographics.

Lauren Gambino reports from Clinton’s speech in Brooklyn:

Hundreds of supporter swarmed the stage after Clinton’s speech, as she walked around to shake hands, sign autographs, and pose for photos.

“Oh my god! She touched my hand,” a little girl wearing a Hillary baseball cap shouted from her father’s shoulders.

Others thrust pieces of paper and memorabilia into the hands of secret service agents hoping Clinton would sign them, or at the very least touch them.

Tonight was historic and it was lost on no one, least of all her most ardent supporters.

“This is one of the greatest days of my life,” Ellen Landsberger said with breathless excitement after Clinton finished speaking in Brooklyn. “I am so thrilled and honored and happy and proud and exhilarated and hopeful.”

She wore a shirt that said “a woman’s place is in the White House” and said she missed her own retirement party to attend the rally tonight. “I’d still be celebrating in the Bronx if this hadn’t happened,” the newly-retired obstetrician said. “I just had to be here. I couldn’t be anywhere else.”

Landsberger said she appreciates that Bernie Sanders has pulled the primary to the left, but said she hopes he sees the writing on the wall and makes a graceful exit from the race.

“I was here the night of the debate between Bernie and Hillary, there’s not a lot of difference between the supporters,” she said. “It just can’t be Donald Trump.”

Justine Kirby, of New Zealand, said she became a citizen just in time to vote for Clinton in the New York primary.

“The whole world is watching this election and hoping we do the right thing,” Kirby said. “We have to do the right thing.”

The Guardian’s Amber Jamieson reports from Donald Trump’s golf club speech in Westchester, New York:

“For all of those Bernie Sanders voters who will be left out in the cold by a rigged system of superdelegates, we welcome you with open arms,” Trump said in remarks on Tuesday at Trump National Golf Club Westchester in New York.

Trump supporters, resplendent in cocktail dresses, pastel polo shirts, suits with red ties and Make America Great Again caps, cheered as the Republican presumptive nominee extended the olive branch to Sanders supporters.

Read the full story here:

Trump wins California

The polls have closed in California, and Trump has won the primary, the AP reports.

Guardian reporters Lauren Gambino, Maria L La Ganga and Sabrina Siddiqui report on the significance of Clinton becoming the first woman to lead a major party’s bid for the White House:

Clinton took the stage eight years to the day when she conceded to Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary, memorably thanking her supporters at the time for leaving the nation’s highest glass ceiling “with about 18 million cracks in it”. On Tuesday, Clinton acknowledged its shattering as a sign of historic progress for the country...

As Clinton celebrated in the state that has served as her adopted home, her opponent Bernie Sanders signaled he had no intention of going quietly into the night. The leftwing senator from Vermont continued to voice his frustration with the nominating process and vowed to carry forth with his unlikely quest to persuade so-called superdelegates who have endorsed Clinton to reverse course and switch their allegiances to him.

Clinton wins New Mexico

After her speech claiming victory as the Democratic nominee, Clinton has won New Mexico, according to the AP.

Donald Trump has returned to talk of judge Gonzalo Curiel, telling Sean Hannity:

I don’t care where the judge comes from. … I want to get a fair shake. We’ve had some very unfair opinions come down.”

Asked about Republicans who have criticized him for his comments about the judge overseeing the Trump University case, the real estate billionaire said, “It’s a little disappointing. … There’s a lot of anxiety there. There’s a lot of anger, I guess. They just can’t come back. They have to get over it. They shouldn’t be so angry for so long.”

Trump wins Montana

Meanwhile in Montana, the AP has called the primary for Trump :

Clinton closes: 'stronger together'

Clinton says she cares most about future, unwritten history. She says the country faces a crucial choice “and we need to make sure” that it’s the right one.

“The end of the primaries is only the beginning of the work we are called to do. And if we stand together, we will rise together, because we are stronger together.”

The crowd goes nuts, she thanks them, and that’s it. She’s standing soaking up the cheers claps whoops and, now, a hug from daughter Chelsea, son-in-law Mark Mezvinsky and husband Bill.

Updated

Clinton refers to self as 'Democratic party's nominee'

Clinton continues. She says her mother “taught me never to back down from a bully, which it turns out was pretty good advice.”

Clinton says her mother was born last Saturday, on 4 June, 1919 – the day Congress passed the 19th amendment to the constitution giving women the right to vote.

She says she wishes her mother could be there “to see her daughter become the Democratic party’s nominee.”

“There are still ceilings to break for women and for all of us, but don’t let anyone tell you that barriers can’t break in America.

She says progress has moved “unmistakably.” “Now you are writing a new chapter of that story. This campaign is about making sure there are no limits, no ceilings on any of us.”

It’s time to come together, she says again. “Help us organize in all 50 states.”

Top Trump organization surrogate and strategist Michael Cohen isn’t impressed with Clinton so far:

Clinton says “this election is not about the same old [partisan] fight, but really is about who we are as a nation...

“It’s about people coming together to say, ‘we are better than this. This is not who we are as a nation.’

“And if you agree, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or an Independent, I hope you will join us.”

Updated

Clinton: Trump 'goes against everything we stand for'

Clinton continues, and unloads on Trump:

“We believe that we are stronger together, and the stakes are high and the choice is clear:

“Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president. And he’s not just trying to build a wall [with] Mexico, he’s trying to wall off Americans from each other.

“When he says, ‘let’s make America great again,” that’s a code for ‘let’s take America backwards’” to a time of unequal opportunity and prosperity only for some.

Clinton continues:

“We however, we want to write the next chapter in American greatness...

“When Donald Trump says a distinguished judge born in Indiana can’t do his job because of his Mexican heritage, or he mocks a reporter with disabilities, or calls women pigs, it goes against everything we stand for. Because we want an America where everyone is treated with respect...

“It’s clear that [Trump] does not believe we are stronger together,” Clinton says. She says Trump has abused his opponents’ families, attacked the press and disparaging immigrants, and “reminding us daily just how great he is,” Clinton says.

Clinton says it never feels good to put your heart into a cause or a candidate you believe in and come up short.

“I know that feeling well.”

Then she makes her call for unity:

“But as we look ahead to the battle that awaits,” let’s consider our common ground, she says.

She’s talking to people who supported losing Republicans, too, she has gone out of her way to say.

“We believe that cooperation is better than conflict... and bridges are better than walls.’

Clinton: 'I want to congratulate Senator Sanders'

Clintons thanks volunteers, activists, supporters. “And thanks especially to our friends in New Jersey for such an astounding victory.”

Clinton says she’s won “a majority of contests and, after tonight, a majority of pledged delegates.”

She thanks Americans who have spoken with her. She says “so many of you feel that no one has your back. Well I do.”

Then she turns to Sanders:

I want to congratulate Senator Sanders for the extraordinary campaign he has run. He has spent his long career in public service fighting for progressive causes... and let there be no mistake. Senator Sanders, his campaign and the vigorous debate that we had... have been very good for the Democratic party and for America.”

“Tonight’s victory is not about one person,” Clinton says. “It belongs to generations.”

Then she rewinds to the women’s suffrage movement and Seneca Falls in 1848.

“It was the first time in human history that that kind of declaration occurred. So we all owe so much to those who came before. And tonight belongs to all of you.”

That’s a play for history.

Clinton: 'a woman will be ... nominee'

Here comes Clinton – and her microphone fails a bit at the start. “I am so grateful to you. It is wonderful to be back in Brooklyn,” she says.

“It may be hard to see tonight, but we are all standing under a glass ceiling right now. But don’t worry. We’re not smashing this one. Thanks to you, we’ve reached a milestone. The first time in our nation’s history that a woman will be a major party’s nominee.”

Updated

Clinton makes an entrance

Quite an entrance from Clinton. Packed house cheering a lot. “I wanna see you be brave” going. Clinton waving and smiling and shaking hands. They’ve staged a big celebration tonight.

They’re playing the video at the Clinton event:

Republican party chair Reince Priebus thought Trump’s speech was “great” and “perfectly delivered”:

The national anthem is happening at the Clinton event. Here’s that live video stream again:

Sanders to lay off much of staff Wednesday – NY Times

“Senator Bernie Sanders plans to lay off at least half his campaign staff Wednesday,” the New York Times reports:

Many of those being laid off are advance staff members who often help with campaign logistics, as well as field staff members who have been working to garner votes for the senator, according to both a campaign official and a former campaign staff member, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. Some campaign workers may move into jobs at Mr. Sanders’s Senate office, but others will be terminated, they said.

Read the full piece here.

Clinton backer: 'it's about time'

Samantha Black, a self-described socialist, came to the Navy Yard with her young son Ruslan, whom she dressed in a pink Planned Parenthood T-shirt, to give him a front-row seat to history, writes the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino:

“I’m really emotional, I’m super emotional,” Black said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I’ve waited my whole life for this.”

Black, who herself wore a teal shirt with an image of Clinton holding a sword high with a quote “I was born to do this”, blames sexism for much of Clinton’s early campaign woes.

“If anyone with her qualifications was running as a man, they would not have to put up with the garbage that she’s had to put up with,” Black said.

“She’s got 25 years of negatives and she’s still standing. She’s a real symbol of endurance and smarts and it’s about time.”

Clinton email: 'tonight, we made history'

At this point, Clinton has declared victory on pretty much every single platform except the one she’s supposed to stand on to make her speech.

Here’s the top of a Clinton fundraising email declaring victory:

Tonight, we made history.

After all our hard work and tough fights -- and an unwavering commitment to love, kindness, our country, and each other -- we broke one of the highest, hardest glass ceilings in America.

Together, we secured the Democratic nomination. For the first time ever, a woman will be a major party’s nominee to become President of the United States

Clinton: 'ready'

Clinton camp chairman: 'she will be the nominee'

Campaign chairman John Podesta tells CNN that Clinton will “reach out to senator Sanders’ supporters” and “hit the campaign themes... that we’re stronger together if we all work together.”

Podesta says “tonight we go over the top against any measure, with pledged delegates, with superdelegates, with the popular vote.. She will be the nominee of the Democratic party. We’re very proud of her.”

“I’m sure she’s going to talk to him soon,” Podesta tells CNN’s Jake Tapper, speaking of Bernie Sanders.

Clinton email: 'we secured the nomination'

The Clinton camp has just sent a fundraising email announcing “together we secured the Democratic nomination,” Reuters reports.

Chelsea Clinton: 'so proud of you, Mom'

Chelsea Clinton congratulates Hillary Clinton on Twitter:

And here’s tomorrow’s New York Post cover (on early editions at least) – more friendly than we might have expected to Clinton(?):

Updated

Sanders projected North Dakota winner

Bernie Sanders is the projected winner of the North Dakota caucuses. Eighteen Democratic delegates to be split proportionally at stake.

While we wait for Clinton, (here’s that video stream), let’s cast an eye at the races still out. Our comprehensive results page is here.

On the Democratic side, Clinton is nursing a decent-looking lead in New Mexico, up seven points with 22% reporting. She also appears out front in South Dakota. But Sanders is looking very comfortable in the North Dakota caucus, up solid double digits with 60% reporting.

Updated

Managers of Democratic campaigns have 'cordial' chat – CNN

CNN reports that the respective managers of the Clinton and Sanders campaign have held “cordial” phone conversations about “keeping the lines of communication open.” That’s different.

As Clinton prepares to speak, her delegate lead over Sanders as tracked by the AP continues to grow. She’s currently at 2,433 delegates, including 571 superdelegates:

Democrats

Trump to GOP: 'I will make you proud of our party'

What did you think of Trump? Here was the standout line, for us. He’s talking to Republican supporters – including many elected officials who have expressed disgust in recent days over his remarks about judge Gonzalo Curiel. Trump told them he understands how hard they worked. And he promised not to let them down:

I understand the responsibility of carrying the mantle, and I will never ever let you down... I will make you proud of our party and of the movement.

Update: There were multiple speechwriters cooking that pot, NBC reports:

Updated

Clinton: live video stream

Here’s a live video stream of the Clinton event at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She’s expected to speak shortly.

Updated

Trump omits talk of building a border wall

Two notable points from Trump: no questions from the media – and no wall:

Clinton to address reporters

Clinton is expected to take the stage any time. The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino is in the crowd:

Trump wins New Mexico

Donald Trump is knocking down these single-major-candidate contests one after another. Hillary Clinton has been declared the winner in only one state tonight while he has been declared the winner in three!

Clinton tweets: 'History made'

It appears Hillary Clinton is about to announce an unequivocal victory in the Democratic nominating contest:

Trump describes 'America First' vision

“We can turn this all around. We’re going to do it by putting America first,” Trump says, continuing his pivot.

Trump says “America first” means entering no conflict abroad “unless it makes us safer as a nation.” “This is the opposite of Hillary’s foreign policy,” Trump says, naming Libya, Iraq, Iran, and Syria.

On trade, America first means the American worker will have his or her job protected from unfair foreign competition... no TPP, you’re right about that... we are only going to have great trade deals.

On energy policy, America first means “opening up America’s great potential to bring wealth and prosperity to our own workers” including miners “who have been mistreated.

On economic policy, it’s tax and regulatory policies that keep jobs here, lower taxes, and ease regulations to help small businesses and companies.

On immigration, it means “protecting the jobs, wages and security of American workers, whether they’re first or tenth generation.” “The beauty of America first is that it brings us all together.” [No mention of building the wall there.]

Trump wins South Dakota

The AP projects it as Trump speaks.

Updated

Trump describes a crumbling national infrastructure:

“I’ve visited the crumbling cities and the struggling schools.”

HE says “America is being taken apart piece by piece and auctioned off to the highest bidder.”

Whoever gave Trump a talking-to before this speech, they really got his attention.

Trump announces anti-Clinton speech

Monday of next week, he says, he will unpack “everything that’s going on with the Clintons.”

He says Hillary Clinton turned the state department into a “private hedge fund.”

He’s speaking in a measured, even voice. He’s reading. It’s a solid anti-establishment political speech. No sharp edges. This is right out of insurgent politics 101:

“I’ve traveled to many of our states and seen the suffering in peoples’ eyes.”

Updated

Trump: Clintons have turned 'politics of personal enrichment into an art form'

“Every election year politicians promise change,” Trump says.

But he says they don’t really want to change the system because it’s rigged in their favor.

“I beat a rigged system by winning with overwhelming support,” Trump says. “The only way you could win.”

“After years of disappointment there is one thing we all have learned... You can’t fix a rigged system with the very people who rigged it... We can’t solve our problems by relying on the people who created it.

“The Clintons have turned the politics of personal enrichment into an art form for themselves.” HE accuses them of selling government contracts and selling favors.

Trump invites Sanders supporters to join him

Trump invites Sanders supporters – “left out of the vote by the rigged system of superdelegates” to join him – we welcome you “with open arms” he says.

He also invites Sanders supporters who object to US trade deals to join his campaign.

Some people say I’m too much of a fighter. My preference is always peace, however. And I’ve shown that. I’ve shown that for a long time...

My goal is always again to bring people together. But if I’m forced to fight for something I really care about, I will never ever back down.

He sounds like a new candidate.

Trump: 'I understand the responsibility' of leading GOP

Trump is flanked by his daughter Ivanka and wife Melania. He’s speaking unlike himself, a bit -- of a Teleprompter. “This is a testament to people who believe that real change – not Obama change – is possible.”

Trump sounds... chastened?

I understand the responsibility of carrying the mantle, and I will never ever let you down... I will make you proud of our party and of the movement.

And here’s Trump. Here’s that live stream again.

“We’re only getting started and it’s gonna be beautiful,” Trump says.

Clinton projected to win New Jersey

Hillary Clinton has won the New Jersey primary, the AP projects.

It’s unclear as yet how many of the state’s 126 Democratic delegates Clinton will scoop up. Delegates are awarded proportionally. Clinton needs about 200 additional pledged delegates to win an outright majority of pledged delegates.

Trump to address supporters

Trump is about to deliver remarks at Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, New York. Here’s a live video stream:

Also:

Updated

Trump: angry Republicans should 'get over it'

Donald Trump says that Republicans who are angry over his comments that a district court judge made a racially-motivated ruling against him should “get over it”, the AP reports:

In an interview with Fox News Tuesday, Trump said that he doesn’t care where the judge comes from, reversing his position he took in a CNN interview last week that Judge Gonzalo Curiel could not preside fairly over the case because he’s of “Mexican heritage”.

In a statement earlier Tuesday, Trump said that his comments were “misconstrued”, but added that based on the ruling he received, he is “justified in questioning” whether he’s received a fair trial.

Asked about those in the Republican Party who refuse to endorse him, Trump said: “It’s OK if they don’t. But they have to get over it, they shouldn’t be so angry for so long.”

Update: here’s a transcript of Trump’s remarks:

Updated

Trump today:

I do not feel that one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial...

Trump in March 2015:

He’s for Sanders. Mom is for Clinton. But in the end, they say, they’re against Trump.

The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino is at Clinton’s Brooklyn party:

Trump previews his speech, to begin, he says, in about 15 minutes.

He’s going to talk about “our great journey”:

Updated

Trump's first endorsee loses primary

The first congressional candidate to be endorsed by Donald Trump lost her primary in a landslide on Tuesday night, writes Guardian politics reporter Ben Jacobs:

North Carolina congresswoman Renee Ellmers lost her primary to fellow incumbent George Holding by an almost 2-to-1 margin. With 57% of precincts reporting, Holding had 53% to Ellmers’ 24%.

Ellmers was one of the first members of Congress to endorse Trump and the presumptive nominee returned the favor, recording a robocall on her behalf. Trump’s support proved insufficient as Holding, backed by a number of conservative groups including Club for Growth, romped to victory.

Ellmers in a primary debate.
Ellmers in a primary debate. Photograph: Travis Long/AP

The rare incumbent-on-incumbent primary was prompted by court-ordered redistricting which threw the two Republicans into the same district.

Ellmers had long been controversial among some conservatives for her support for immigration reform and relative moderation on abortion. She had been considered a leadership ally on Capitol Hill. In contrast, Holding, a former Jesse Helms staffer, had a solidly conservative record.

Holding’s win suggests that Trump still doesn’t have coattails down ballot and that he has a ways to go to consolidate his support within the GOP.

Updated

Republican governor teeters on Trump

Nevada governor Brian Sandoval, who previously had pledged to support the Republican presidential nominee, now says he “cannot say” he will vote for Trump, the New York Times reports:

Trump wins New Jersey, AP projects

Based on few results, AP makes it pseudo-official: Donald Trump has won his one-major-candidate race in the state’s Republican primary.

The New Jersey result trickles on in.

While we wait, let’s see what’s in tomorrow’s papers...

Trump to address supporters

Buckle up, America. Trump is scheduled to speak, as Wolf Blitzer would say, “at the top of the hour”. I.e. in maybe 30 minutes, or more, or less.

Clinton is expected to follow closely after Trump.

Most Democrats remain confident that Bernie Sanders will not simply support Hillary Clinton but also rally his legion of followers behind her candidacy, writes Guardian politics reporter Sabrina Siddiqui:

Senator Sherrod Brown, a progressive favorite who has worked closely with Sanders in the Senate, said the disagreements between the Democratic candidates paled in comparison to their differences with the Republican Party.

“I think Bernie has a strong belief that Donald Trump would be a disaster,” Brown said in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday evening.

Clinton with Brown in March at the Ohio Democratic Party Legacy Dinner at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Clinton with Brown in March at the Ohio Democratic Party Legacy Dinner at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

“You’re going to see Bernie on his timetable be strongly supportive of Hillary Clinton. I think they will work things out, and I think that Hillary understands the importance of Bernie Sanders to the Democratic Party now and to her efforts.”

The moving sight of a young citizen in an early encounter with the national politics:

Updated

Results!

Don’t delay – our comprehensive results tracker is right here.

Bernie Sanders is getting out every last vote. Now he’s in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles:

Updated

Patriotic bunting at the Clinton event...

... and what appears to be a lovely sunset at Trump’s golf course:

Clinton to congratulate Sanders

The Guardian’s Sabrina Siddiqui reports that Clinton’s speech will contain a line with a clear subtext: don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Updated

Clinton props switch from campaign signs to US flags

The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino is inside the Hillary Clinton event at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

“Hundreds of supporters waving American flags crowded into the spacious Duggal Greenhouse at the Navy Yard in Brooklyn in anticipation of Clinton’s big victory speech,” Lauren writes:

The flags are a notable change from the blue campaign signs that have so far decorated her rallies, a symbol of a transition between the contest winding down and the one looming ahead.

Outside, a line snaked around the building, as the sun set over a sweeping view of the Williamsburg bridge. It’s a picturesque setting for a historic moment, nearly one year after Clinton entered the race with a speech on nearby Roosevelt Island.

The crowd is ebullient, helped only slightly by the concession stand selling beer and wine. Sporadic cheers erupt every few minutes and those standing in the risers pop up to shout and cheer.

Updated

Polls close in New Jersey

Polling stations in New Jersey, where Hillary Clinton is the favorite in the Democratic race, have closed.

Clinton defeated Barack Obama 54-44 in the state’s 2008 Democratic primary. Clinton also performed strongly this year in neighboring New York, which she won by 16 points.

Updated

Donald Trump made his first endorsement in a congressional race, encouraging Republican primary voters to back Renee Ellmers, who was running for reelection in North Carolina’s second congressional district. The district had been redrawn since Ellmers’ last election.

It did not work:

Updated

The Guardian’s Nicky Woolf is on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles for a Bernie Sanders meet-and-greet before polls close. Sanders took a brief walk up Hollywood Boulevard, talking to people and asking if they’ve voted, Nicky reports:

Updated

The Guardian’s Amber Jamieson sends this scenic dispatch from the scene of the Donald Trump event in Westchester, New York:

View from the Venice boardwalk: non-voting Sanders backers

Good and bad news for Bernie Sanders from the community of artists and homeless people who work and live along the Venice boardwalk, writes the Guardian’s Rory Carroll:

They love him. But they’re not voting.

Much as they appreciate the Vermont senator’s growls against a rigged system, a straw poll on Tuesday afternoon suggested many are not registered to vote. Or don’t know where to vote. Or don’t care enough to vote.

“If I were to vote I’d have voted for Bernie,” said Jeremy Jaffeux, 23, who resembles a hippie pirate. “He seemed to have a better path set out for his term. It didn’t seem like he was just some Facebook meme.”

Jaffeux said he was not registered, and in any case was preparing to pack up his meagre possessions to go hunting minerals in northern California.

A young woman with him said she was registered but lamented missing her chance to back the Democratic candidate. Told polls were open another four hours, she shook her head, unconvinced.

Brian Bennett, 28, a recent arrival from Boston, also would have voted for Sanders on the grounds Hillary Clinton cared only about money. “But I can’t vote because I’ve a criminal record.”

Others in this transient, bohemian community cited lack of identity documents or knowledge about polling stations.

The exception was Dorcas Daley, 59, who sported an “I voted” sticker. A teacher who supplements her income by playing guitar, harmonica, percussion and violin, she voted for Sanders and said she would consider holding her nose to vote for Clinton in November if Clinton selected Sanders, Elizabeth Warren or another progressive as a running mate.

The only Clinton enthusiast was a homeless woman who gave her name as Dani Viciouss, 27. “Hillary speaks a lot of truth,” she said.

Sanders 'upset' at AP call for Clinton

Bernie Sanders tells NBC he was “upset” that the Associated Press announced Monday night that Hillary Clinton had claimed a 2,383 majority of the Democratic delegates.

The AP explained that they simply made the announcement after their tally of delegates Clinton had claimed hit 2,383.

But Sanders accuses AP of “hounding superdelegates” in advance of today’s voting. (It’s of note that the Clinton campaign also seemed unhappy about the timing of AP’s call, fearing that it would discourage turnout.)

“Well, what I was upset is what the A.P. did,” Sanders told NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, in an interview in California.

They got on the phone, as I understand it, and they started hounding superdelegates to tell them in an anonymous way who they’d be voting for. And the night before the largest primary, biggest primary -- in the whole process, they make this announcement. So I was really disappointed in what the -- A.P. did.

Sanders later tells Holt he’ll “defy history” by changing the minds of superdelegates:

LESTER HOLT: You’d be defying history? You’d be defying the will of

BERNIE SANDERS: Hey–

LESTER HOLT: --the will of the voter, right? (LAUGH) Hillary Clinton--

BERNIE SANDERS: Well, defying history is what this campaign has been about.

Updated

Pictures from the polls

Maria Santiago, 18, delivers her ballot to voting inspector at Sabores de Oaxaca, a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles, California.
Maria Santiago, 18, delivers her ballot to voting inspector at Sabores de Oaxaca, a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles, California. Photograph: Michael Owen Baker/AFP/Getty Images
Voters fill out ballots at the Neptune Society Columbarium, one of the last remaining cemeteries in San Francisco.
Voters fill out ballots at the Neptune Society Columbarium, one of the last remaining cemeteries in San Francisco. Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP
People vote on the deck of the Echo Park Deep Pool in Los Angeles, California.
People vote on the deck of the Echo Park Deep Pool in Los Angeles, California. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
A woman votes at a polling station located in a grocery store, in National City, California.
A woman votes at a polling station located in a grocery store, in National City, California. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

Visit our comprehensive results tracker

If you’ve joined us on previous primary nights, you know how pleasing it can be to watch animated candidates on scissors lifts bearing paint brushes fill in counties on state maps after they’ve stolen a lead or clinched a victory.

That same informative entertainment will be on offer for you tonight, over at our comprehensive results page.

Bernie Sanders shows voters how it’s done: run, don’t walk, to your precinct.

A voter's view: actor with an eye on the supreme court

[Note: Throughout the day Guardian reporters have been interviewing voters about how they made up their minds. You can find a selection of these interviews on our earlier live blog.]

Cristina Gerla, 26, an actor in Los Angeles, California, said she voted for Hillary Clinton:

Cristina Gerla
Cristina Gerla Photograph: Rory Carroll

Whoever will be the next president will be filling at least one supreme court seat. That will have repercussions on my life because I’m only 26. The court will be deciding on things like rights over a woman’s body, accessibility to health care, sex education in schools and gay rights. We need to protect those rights and allow them to grow.

Updated

Clinton video highlights historic feat

Hillary Clinton plans to debut a new video celebrating women and women leaders at her victory party tonight. The video will play as an introduction before Clinton takes the stage at Brooklyn Navy Yard, Guardian politics reporter Sabrina Siddiqui reports:

Polling closure times

Both parties are hosting contests in five states today, and there’s an extra Democratic caucus playing out in North Dakota*.

New Jersey (126 Democratic delegates, 51 GOP) polling stations close at 8pm ET.

The final polling stations in North Dakota (18 Democratic delegates) and South Dakota (20 Democratic delegates, 29 GOP) close at 9pm ET.

New Mexico (34 Democratic delegates, 24 GOP) polling stations close at 9pm ET.

Montana (21 Democratic delegates, 27 GOP) polling stations close at 10pm ET.

California (475 Democratic delegates, 172 GOP) polling stations close at 11pm ET.

Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are expected to address supporters sometime after the New Jersey polls close (9pm ET? Later?). Trump is in Westchester, New York, and Clinton is in Brooklyn, New York.

Bernie Sanders is expected to address supporters much later, after the California polls close.

Our results maps atop the blog there will begin filling in automatically as precincts report. There are no exit polls this evening, meaning no snap demographic breakdown as polls close.

The AP reports on how quickly the results were reported in these states last year:

In 2012, here’s how the vote count looked an hour after each state’s polls closed: New Jersey, about 10 percent; New Mexico, 26 percent; South Dakota, 65 percent; Montana, 20 percent; California, 40 percent.

*North Dakota is holding only a Democratic caucus. “The AP vote count there will be the presidential preferences of the 394 people elected to attend the state delegate selection meeting.”

Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the last big voting night of the long primary season. An estimated 5 million voters in California have already mailed in their ballots, as voters from New Jersey to New Mexico make their way to the polls to help pick the next president.

It is appropriate to this primary season, perhaps, that the suspense of who will win the final states appears to have overshot the actual “results”, if that word can be applied to a mere cumulative tally of delegates and votes.

Hillary Clinton has amassed a majority of Democratic delegates, including superdelegates, while Donald Trump has performed a parallel feat on the Republican side.

And yet the race, for at least one more night, and perhaps many more, goes on. Clinton is running against Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who correctly points out that the Democrats’ 719 superdelegates will decide the contest, and who says he can convince hundreds of them to switch from Clinton to him, while admitting that the number he’s persuaded so far is zero.

Can it be said, on the Republican side, that Trump is running against himself? Trump’s caustic comments about the judge presiding over cases against his Trump University – “textbook” racist comments, House speaker Paul Ryan called them – have reignited whispers in Republican circles about whether there might not be some way for the party to avoid nominating the candidate who has won more than twice as many delegates as his nearest contender, so far.

Democrats
Republicans

We propose this blog as your one-stop shop for results from tonight’s contests immediately as they are available, for reporting from inside the candidates’ parties – victory and otherwise – and for all the analysis and color you desire. Lauren Gambino and Jill Abramson will be with Hillary Clinton in Brooklyn, Amber Jamieson will be watching Donald Trump upstate in Westchester, while across the other side of the country Nicky Woolf will be with Bernie Sanders in Santa Monica.

Whatever else happens, the night may come back to Clinton, who is on the verge of firming up her status as the first woman in US history to be nominated for president by a major political party. If she snags just 31% of the available pledged delegates tonight – well below her average – she will have won a majority of those bound delegates, in addition to claiming a majority of delegates overall.

[“Delegates overall includes superdelegates, senior party officials not bound by any state results. Read more on this from Guardian US data editor Mona Chalabi here.]

Should Sanders pull off victory, however, in California, where he has been campaigning for weeks and which has a whopping 475 delegates to give, Clinton’s overall victory – should it hold – is likely to be soured by party dislocation and an ongoing fight.

Thank you for reading and please, as always, join us in the comments.

Updated

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