Sanders adviser says they still have a way to win, but need to do well next week
NEW YORK (AP) — A top adviser to Bernie Sanders says the senator still has a path to the Democratic presidential nomination but will need to perform well in primary contests next week.
Senior adviser Tad Devine spoke in a phone interview after Hillary Clinton defeated Sanders in New York by a convincing margin. He says Sanders "never counted on winning New York — this is her home state."
Devine says there are "still a pretty good number of delegates left. We have to win most of the states. We have to win enough delegates to make up the difference."
Devine says the Sanders campaign will see how it does next week in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island and Connecticut and then "assess where we are."
Based on primaries and caucuses to date, Clinton now has 1,393 delegates to Sanders' 1,130.
When including superdelegates, party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton's lead is even bigger, 1,862 to 1,161.
Before New York's contest, Sanders needed to win 68 percent of remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to catch Clinton.
That bar is on track to become even higher, heading into a set of contests next week in the Northeast that are expected to favor Clinton.
It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination.