The U.S. presidential primary election season officially ended Tuesday as Hillary Clinton defeated Bernie Sanders in the nation's capital, and the two candidates held what they called a "positive discussion" in Washington.
Clinton is the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee with her official selection expected at a convention in Philadelphia next month. Sanders has persisted in his campaign despite trailing in the race for months, which has allowed him to have some influence on the party's platform of policies.
The two campaigns issued very similar statements after the meeting that said Clinton and Sanders discussed shared priorities such as raising wages, reforming campaign finance laws and making college affordable.
They also cited the "dangerous threat that Donald Trump poses to our nation."
In the Washington, D.C. primary, Clinton won 78 percent of the vote to 21 percent for Sanders. That gave Clinton a final total of 2,219 delegates and Sanders 1,832. Clinton fell short of the majority 2,383 needed to officially clinch the nomination, but she has the support of hundreds of so-called superdelegates who will push her over the top at the convention.
Ahead of the meeting, Sanders said the Democrats should abolish the superdelegates, saying it is "absurd" that many had already settled on Clinton last year long before people began voting in primaries. He gave no sign of formally ending his bid for president.
"What has to happen and what this fight has always been about is transforming America," Sanders said. "It is standing up for working people, it is fighting for a progressive agenda which serves the needs of working people and not powerful corporate interests, and we are going to take that fight into the convention in Philadelphia."
The Democratic convention runs from July 25-28. The Republicans hold their convention in Cleveland from July 18-21.
A new poll by NBC News and SurveyMonkey released Tuesday shows Clinton leading Trump 49 to 42 percent.
Americans will vote on November 8 for their next leader, replacing Barack Obama who leaves office in January after serving the maximum of eight years as president.
