Bernie Sanders Won't Leave the Race Until He Sees DC's Vote

Bernie Sanders' already slim aspirations at beating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination took a huge blow on Tuesday, but Sanders said he's staying in the race until "the last vote is cast" -- and the last vote will be here, in the District of Columbia.

Sanders trails Clinton by hundreds of delegates, losing most of the states in the primary that was held April 26, but he has no intention of dropping out. And it appears he'll wait until Washington, D.C. votes on June 14 before he'll even think about conceding to Clinton.

"The people in every state in this country should have the right to determine who they want as president and what the agenda of the Democratic Party should be," he said in a statement. "That’s why we are in this race until the last vote is cast."

The District gets that honor with a closed primary all to itself on June 14, as all 50 states will have voted by then. Before D.C. votes, the last votes to be cast will be in six states at once on June 7 -- California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota.

D.C. has 46 delegates up for grabs. Of course, the race is likely to be well decided by then, but Sanders apparently wants to at least see how D.C. votes.

Even with yesterday's losses, Sanders said that he has the best chance of winning in November against the Republican nominee.

"I am proud that we were able to win a resounding victory tonight in Rhode Island, the one state with an open primary where independents had a say in the outcome," he said. "Democrats should recognize that the ticket with the best chance of winning this November must attract support from independents as well as Democrats. I am proud of my campaign’s record in that regard."

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