Did you vote in one of Tuesday’s six primaries? (via Flickr)

3:24 a.m. June 8: With 92 percent of the precincts reporting, The Associated Press calls California for Clinton.

2:30 a.m. June 8: Here’s a handy map of the results from the June 7 primaries from The New York Times’ interactive.

11:30 p.m.: The AP has called Montana for Sanders. With most of the results in, both Clinton and Sanders have made speeches regarding the outcome of the penultimate set of votes before the Democratic convention in July. Watch what each had to say from rallies in Brooklyn, New York and Santa Monica, Calif.

9:30 p.m.: Time to take stock. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has won in New Jersey, South Dakota and New Mexico, while Bernie Sanders landed North Dakota. As for the GOP, Donald Trump has taken those states, as well as Montana and California.

9:28 p.m.: Some local (for us in the Truthdig office) news: The two top spots for the California Senate race have been claimed by Democrats Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez, the Los Angeles Times reports.

8:25 p.m.: Clinton has followed The Associated Press’ preemptive declaration from a day ago and has claimed the Democratic nomination. From The New York Times:

Clinton claimed the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday night with a crushing victory in the New Jersey primary, and quickly appealed to supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont to unite with her against Donald J. Trump.

Delivering an evocative speech woven with references to trailblazing women, Mrs. Clinton pledged to build on the achievements of pioneers like the 19th-century leaders at Seneca Falls, N.Y., who began the fight for women’s rights in America.

She took the stage with her hands clasped over her heart in gratitude, threw her arms open in joy and savored a long moment as a jubilant crowd waved American flags and chanted “Hillary.” “Tonight caps an amazing journey—a long, long journey,” Mrs. Clinton said. “We all owe so much to those who came before, and tonight belongs to all of you.”

She praised Mr. Sanders and his passionate supporters, saying that “vigorous debate” had been “very good for the Democratic Party and America.”

5:24 p.m. PST: More on the Trump story mentioned below, before poll results come in: On Tuesday afternoon, Trump released a statement — not a retraction or an apology — for his comments about U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel (via The Washington Post):

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Tuesday that his persistent attacks against a Hispanic federal judge have been “misconstrued,” an attempt to mitigate accusations of racism and intense scrutiny from Democrats and Republicans alike.

[…] In a lengthy written statement issued Tuesday afternoon, Trump sought to temper the criticism he was facing without apologizing for his remarks. He said it is “unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage. I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent.”

Trump added that he does not believe that “one’s heritage makes them incapable of being impartial,” but he continued to question whether Curiel has been impartial in the case.

“Based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case,” he said, “I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial.”

Trump said he will no longer comment on the case. It is scheduled for trial in November—after the presidential election.

4:45 p.m. PST: Interesting news from Julian Assange, who spoke via video to an international media forum earlier today. RT reports that Assange declared, “Google is directly engaged with Hillary Clinton’s campaign … Google is heavily integrated with Washington power, at personal level and at business level … Google, which has increasing control over the distribution channels, … is intensely allying itself with the US exceptionalism.” In October of last year, Assange made similar claims — however, The Huffington Post did add at the time that there was “no evidence” of Google or Alphabet engineers support Clinton’s campaign.

Also, Google Trends tweeted this earlier today:

4:15 p.m. PST: And now, some updates regarding the Democratic race.

While most mainstream media outlets are holding strong to the idea that Clinton is already the Democratic nominee, here is a refreshing Rolling Stone piece about why Bernie Sanders could “fight on.”

Additionally, here’s some evidence that Clinton may have known about the AP’s story several days in advance.

Finally, the polls in New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota close in less than an hour. And we are less than two hours away from Truthdig’s live discussion with Dr. Jill Stein!

4:02 p.m. PST: Some updates on Trump’s racist judge statements:

Paul Ryan, who recently endorsed Trump, called Trump’s words “the textbook definition of a racist comment.”

Jeb Bush, who is not a fan of a potential Trump presidency, said this:

Trump, meanwhile, just took to Twitter to post about how “Latinos May Be Warming to Donald Trump”:

12:08 p.m. PST: Welcome to another Truthdig Primary Day Live Blog! Tuesday is the last of the presidential primaries (minus Washington, D.C., which votes June 14) — and there are some big states up for grabs. Most eyes are on New Jersey and California due to their substantial delegate counts, but voters in New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota are also heading to the polls. Republican Donald Trump is his party’s presumptive nominee, while Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are still competing. Here’s where things stand as these six primaries unfold:

The big news of Tuesday’s primaries seems to have happened Monday, when The Associated Press reported that Clinton had clinched the nomination. However, many Bernie supporters would like to remind everyone that superdelegates don’t actually pledge support for their nominee until the Democratic National Convention next month.

It’s also worth mentioning that while many mainstream media outlets (like NBC) were quick to second the AP’s story, other publications had deeper analysis — for example, Glenn Greenwald’s piece “Perfect End to Democratic Primary: Anonymous Super-Delegates Declare Winner Through Media.” Greenwald writes, “[F]or a party run by insiders and funded by corporate interests, it’s only fitting that their nomination process ends with such an ignominious, awkward and undemocratic sputter.”

And, while many liberal voters are probably heading into the polls feeling a bit disheartened since the AP’s report, it’s also worth noting that the Clinton campaign is still trying to woo voters in Tuesday’s primaries. “Clinton is likely to pass the magic number of 2,383 delegates soon after the polls close in New Jersey,” CNN writes, but “California’s primary may serve as a litmus test of the party’s interest in Sanders’ liberal policies.”

Speaking of superdelegates, President Barack Obama — who has officially remained neutral in the Democratic nomination process — is “eager to endorse Clinton,” says NBC News. White House aides added that an endorsement “could come as early as this week.”

Donald Trump has been making headlines for (you guessed it) more racially-charged comments. Last week, Trump accused a judge of being biased against him due to his “Mexican heritage,” and he elaborated this position to include judges with a Muslim background as well. At a California campaign rally last week, Trump called out a black man in the crowd by announcing, “Look at my African-American over here! Look at him. Are you the greatest? You know what I’m talking about, OK?” The Washington Post writes that these racist incidents are causing concern among many within the GOP.

Finally, it’s worth keeping your eyes on Truthdig’s Facebook page. At 6 p.m. PST Tuesday, right here in the Los Angeles Truthdig offices, we will be sitting down with Green Party presumptive presidential nominee Dr. Jill Stein — and our discussion will be streaming live on Facebook.

The earliest polls (in parts of North Dakota and South Dakota) close at 5 p.m. PST, and California polls close at 8 p.m. PST — but check back here throughout the day for important updates on the primaries.

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#associated press#barack obama#bernie sanders#california#donald trump#hillary clinton#jill stein#live#montana#new jersey#new mexico#north dakota#primary#south dakota#super tuesday#superdelegate