LOS ANGELES (AP) — Striding into history, Hillary Clinton will become the first woman to top the presidential ticket of a major U.S. political party, capturing commitments Monday from the number of delegates needed to become the Democrats' presumptive nominee. The historic moment, years in the making, came after the former secretary of state passed the mark with a combination of pledged and superdelegates in her contest against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Clinton's campaign had prepared a major victory rally in Brooklyn for Tuesday night, exactly eight years to the day after she conceded the 2008 race to then-Sen. Barack Obama. Clinton’s victory sets up a titanic clash against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, who ripped through 16 primary rivals on his way to becoming the unlikely leader of a party he joined only recently. “It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgment, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee’s clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer," Briggs said in a statement noting that Clinton “does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination.” 
 
 It was indeed superdelegates who put Clinton over the top — the AP spent the day surveying these party insiders and counted those who said they were "unequivocally" for Clinton, according to the news agency's U.S. political editor, David Scott. "Our goal is to get as many delegates as we possibly can and to make the case to superdelegates that I believe the evidence is very strong that I am the strongest candidate," Sanders said at a news conference in Emeryville, California. He would have needed to win roughly two-thirds of the pledged delegates between Tuesday’s contests and next week’s primary in the District of Columbia — a massive jump from the roughly 46 percent of pledged delegates he’s won thus far — to pass Clinton. And Clinton herself on Monday said in not so subtle terms that she’s ready for the next phase in the campaign — one in which she takes the fight to Trump, with her 2008 primary rival by her side. ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Julie Bykowicz in Washington and Ken Thomas in San Francisco contributed to this report.
– By AP's count, Hillary Clinton has just made US history: On Monday, the news service declared that she has captured commitments from the number of delegates needed to become the Democrats' presumptive nominee, the first woman to do so for either party. The Sanders camp, however, isn't convinced. The AP says Clinton reached the mark 2,383 delegates with a decisive weekend victory in Puerto Rico and a burst of last-minute support from superdelegates. Those are party officials and officeholders, many of them eager to wrap up the primary amid preference polls showing her in a tightening race with presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. Clinton has 1,812 pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses. She also has the support of 571 superdelegates, according to an Associated Press count. The AP surveyed all 714 superdelegates repeatedly in the past seven months, and only 95 remain publicly uncommitted. While superdelegates will not formally cast their votes for Clinton until the party's July convention in Philadelphia, all those counted in her tally have unequivocally told the AP they will do so. A spokesman for Bernie Sanders isn't swayed by the math, reports Politico. “Secretary Clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination," said Michael Briggs. "She will be dependent on superdelegates who do not vote until July 25 and who can change their minds between now and then." The development comes on the eve of voting in California.