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Posted: 2016-06-08T02:56:33Z | Updated: 2016-06-08T04:53:54Z

Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary in New Mexico on Tuesday, besting Bernie Sanders in a contest where she had held a substantial polling lead for months.

Multiple networks called the race for Clinton shortly after polls closed in the state.

The Sanders campaign had focused its attention in recent weeks almost exclusively on delegate-rich California, by far the biggest prize among the six states in play on Tuesday. The independent Vermont senator has been popular with young and white voters , while Clinton has outpaced him with older and black voters . Sanders has been competitive among Latino voters, particularly younger Latinos. However, he has been unable to close the deal in states with significant Latino populations, including Florida, Arizona, Texas and Nevada.

On Monday night, Clinton's total delegate count eclipsed the number necessary for her to clinch the Democratic nomination. Hundreds of those are "superdelegates" -- party insiders who can choose which candidate to support without regard to primary vote results. Since these unpledged delegates' preferences are not official until the party convention, Clinton has not officially clinched the nomination. Sanders can only win the nomination by converting hundreds of superdelegates at a contested convention in late July -- an extremely unlikely feat.

There are no more statewide contests for the Democratic nomination. The District of Columbia will hold the final Democratic primary contest on June 14.