Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager, said Tuesday he believes the Democratic primary fight will continue until the convention, and that Sanders will emerge as the winner, not Hillary Clinton.
“If you look at the math, if you want to talk about math, the truth is is that it is very, very, very unlikely that either candidate, either Secretary Clinton or Sen. Sanders, will go into the convention with a majority needed of pledged delegates in order to win,” Weaver told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day.”
In order to win the Democratic primary, Clinton or Sanders need to clinch at least 2,383 delegates. Clinton currently has 1,742 total delegates — 1,259 who are pledged or bound to vote for her and 483 super delegates who have said they support her but could switch allegiances — while Sanders has 1,051 total delegates, 1,020 pledged and 31 super delegates.
Weaver acknowledged that while super delegates count toward the nomination, they don’t officially count until they vote at the convention.
“I think it’ll be an interesting Democratic convention,” he said.
The Sanders campaign has urged super delegates — such as party officials or members of Congress — who have said they support Clinton to follow the sentiment of their voting districts or states, some which may have gone for Sanders.
Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, responded to Weaver, saying that the campaigns need “wait and see” what happens with the delegates.
“There are a lot of contests coming up, there are three very delegate-rich states coming up, Pennsylvania, New York and then California,” he told CNN’s John Berman on “New Day.” “I think there are plenty delegates for one candidate to get a majority of pledged delegates. But again, we’re just putting our nose to the grindstone and focused on earning those delegates every single day.”
On Tuesday, the candidates face off in the Wisconsin Democratic primary, which is expected to be a close outcome.
A win in Wisconsin could give Sanders a boost ahead of the New York primary on April 19, the state where he was born and which Clinton represented as a U.S. senator.
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