US: Clinton claims Kentucky, Sanders takes Oregon

WASHINGTON (AA) - Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and her rival Bernie Sanders each claimed a victory in Tuesday's primaries.

Clinton barely eked out a victory, coming out roughly half a percentage ahead of Sanders with nearly all votes counted in Kentucky.

She claimed the win on Twitter, saying: "We just won Kentucky!"

"Thanks to everyone who turned out. We’re always stronger united," she tweeted in an apparent effort to get Sanders to bow out of the race and stand behind her.

But the narrow victory means that Clinton will only marginally best Sanders in the competition for Kentucky's 55 delegates -- Democrats split delegates based on vote percentages.

Sanders' win in Oregon, where 61 delegates were up for grabs, is also unlikely to significantly impact the delegate count.

That means the path for the Vermont senator to receive the Democratic nomination is far from clear. He trails Clinton by roughly 300 delegates, and would need to dramatically upend Clinton in the following contests, particularly in California where 546 Democratic delegates are in play.

Still, Sanders remained defiant, telling supporters at a rally near Los Angeles, California's largest city, that he would remain in the race until the end.

"Before we will have the opportunity to defeat Donald Trump, we're going to have to defeat Secretary Clinton," he said in Carson, California.

He said his near split in Kansas was "in a sense the beginning of the final push to win California", pointing to Clinton's lopsided win against U.S. President Barack Obama there in 2008.

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump separately won his party's contest in Oregon, which he ran in unopposed. He is now less than 100 delegates away from securing the Republican nomination.