WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Barack Obama grabbed the early lead in the competition for delegates in Tuesday's primaries.
Obama won at least 69 delegates in the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, according to an analysis of election returns by The Associated Press. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won at least 63 delegates, with 55 still to be awarded.
In the overall race for the nomination, Obama leads with 1,815.5 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton has 1,672.
Obama was on pace to finish the night within 200 delegates of the 2,025 needed to secure the Democratic nomination. He is also on pace to reach a majority of the pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses in two weeks, when Kentucky and Oregon vote. Obama has a 158-delegate lead among pledged delegates.
There are 217 delegates at stake in the final six contests. Also, about 270 superdelegates are yet to be claimed.
Superdelegates are the party and elected officials who will automatically attend the national convention and can support whomever they choose, regardless of what happens in the primaries and caucuses.
Obama has argued for months that superdelegates should support the candidate who wins the most pledged delegates. Clinton argues that superdelegates should exercise independent judgment.
Clinton leads in superdelegate endorsements, 270.5 to 256, though Obama has been chipping away at her lead since the Super Tuesday contests on Feb. 5. Both candidates picked up a superdelegate endorsement Tuesday.
Nearly 800 superdelegates will attend the national convention. About 220 remain undecided and about 50 others will be named at state party conventions and meetings throughout the spring.
The AP tracks the delegate races by calculating the number of national convention delegates won by candidates in each presidential primary or caucus, based on state and national party rules, and by interviewing unpledged delegates to obtain their preferences.
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Obama won at least 69 delegates in the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, according to an analysis of election returns by The Associated Press. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won at least 63 delegates, with 55 still to be awarded.
In the overall race for the nomination, Obama leads with 1,815.5 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton has 1,672.
Obama was on pace to finish the night within 200 delegates of the 2,025 needed to secure the Democratic nomination. He is also on pace to reach a majority of the pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses in two weeks, when Kentucky and Oregon vote. Obama has a 158-delegate lead among pledged delegates.
There are 217 delegates at stake in the final six contests. Also, about 270 superdelegates are yet to be claimed.
Superdelegates are the party and elected officials who will automatically attend the national convention and can support whomever they choose, regardless of what happens in the primaries and caucuses.
Obama has argued for months that superdelegates should support the candidate who wins the most pledged delegates. Clinton argues that superdelegates should exercise independent judgment.
Clinton leads in superdelegate endorsements, 270.5 to 256, though Obama has been chipping away at her lead since the Super Tuesday contests on Feb. 5. Both candidates picked up a superdelegate endorsement Tuesday.
Nearly 800 superdelegates will attend the national convention. About 220 remain undecided and about 50 others will be named at state party conventions and meetings throughout the spring.
The AP tracks the delegate races by calculating the number of national convention delegates won by candidates in each presidential primary or caucus, based on state and national party rules, and by interviewing unpledged delegates to obtain their preferences.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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