Clinton leads in California primary, Sanders vows to continue

Hillary Clinton at the Hillary for New York Primary Night Party in April, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

LOS ANGELES -- US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton led in Tuesday's party primary in California with 56 percent of the votes, according to results released after over 92 precincts partially reported as of early Wednesday morning.

Her rival Bernie Sanders got 43 percent and vowed to continue his campaign.

The California primary results further consolidated Clinton's chance to be the first female presidential nominee of a major party in US history.

However, Sanders told his supporters that he will not drop out of the race but will continue fighting for every vote and every delegate.

The 74-year-old Vermont senator told a full house of supporters in Santa Monica on Tuesday that he will continue to fight hard to win the primary in Washington, D.C. next Tuesday, which will be the last primary.

"And then we take our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania," he said, in reference to the Democratic National Convention, where Sanders pins his hope to turn the tide by gaining more superdelegates' support.

Sanders has insisted throughout the campaign that he would stick to his presidential bid all the way to the convention, even if Clinton becomes the presumptive nominee.

As results rolled in after the voting ended at 8 pm local time (0300 GMT Wednesday), Clinton's percentage of votes dropped from about 63 percent at the beginning to 56 percent.

Simon Hu, an 18-year-old first-time Chinese-American voter, told Xinhua that he would vote for Clinton as it is not easy to have a female presidential candidate. "It will be a historic moment if Clinton can win," he said.

Clinton on Tuesday wrote on her Twitter account: "To every little girl who dreams big: yes, you can be anything you want - even president. Tonight is for you."

Though there are American media reports that according to a survey of superdelegates, Clinton had already earned the required number of delegates to claim the Democratic nomination, Sanders insisted that Clinton "will be dependent on superdelegates who do not vote until July 25 (at the party convention) and who can change their minds between now and then."

On the Republican side, with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio dropping out, Donald Trump became the presumptive nominee. Trump got more than 75 percent of the votes in Tuesday's primary.

Also on Tuesday, California voters cast ballots for statewide and local offices, as well as one ballot initiative.

A record 17.9 million people have registered to vote in delegate-heavy California. It may take several days to have an accurate assessment of voter turnout.