Clinton edges Sanders in Kentucky, he wins Oregon

Ron Kampeas

Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally at Bronx Community College in New York City, April 9, 2016. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally at Bronx Community College in New York City, April 9, 2016. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Hillary Clinton appeared to best Bernie Sanders in Kentucky, but he defeated her in Oregon, as he ramped up his rhetoric against the Democratic Party leadership while his odds of defeating Clinton fade.

Sanders continues to trail Clinton substantially in the delegate count, 1,528 to 2,291 out of 2,383 needed to win, according to the New York Times.

A number of media outlets predicted Clinton would win Kentucky, where she led Sanders by half a percentage point, 46.8 percent to 46.3 percent, with 99 percent of the vote counted late Tuesday night.

Oregon became the 20th state Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont and the first Jewish candidate to win major party nomination contests, has won. He defeated Clinton 53 to 47 percent.

The Sanders campaign and the Nevada Democratic party continued to tussle after a chaotic delegate-selection convention in the state last weekend.

Sanders backers accused party leaders of allowing irregularities, letting the former secretary of state edge out Sanders for delegates. The Sanders backers shouted down pro-Clinton speakers during the convention, and there were reports of shoving.

Clinton won the popular vote in the state in its February caucus, but a complex and lengthy delegate selection had raised hopes in the Sanders campaign that its candidate could emerge with a majority of delegates.

State party officials were flooded with threats in the days following the convention, and the state and national parties sought a condemnation from Sanders.

Instead, in a statement, he condemned violence on all sides and warned the party’s leaders that “millions of Americans are outraged at establishment politics and establishment economics.”

Campaigning in Carson, California, which has a primary on June 7, Sanders on Tuesday repeated his pledge to stick it out through the convention in July.

“We are going to continue to fight for every last vote until June 14, and then we are going to take our fight into the convention,” he said.

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