Clinton captures California

by Sam Youngman and Andy Barr - 02/06/08 12:45 AM ET

As Super Tuesday moved West, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) won the crown jewel of the electoral college Tuesday night, as she was projected to win the California primary.

Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) appeared to be closing significantly in recent days, but Clinton was able to hold on for the win as results came in late on the East Coast.

{mosads}Because of the way delegates are allocated by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the breakdown of who won the most delegates in the state was unclear early Wednesday morning.

That said, because of the allocation formula used by the DNC, it is unlikely that either candidate was a runaway winner in the state in terms of the delegate count.

Prior to the announcement of Clinton’s projected win, the Obama campaign said it had the delegate lead from Super Tuesday states. A statement from the campaign said Obama was leading Clinton 677-634.

The win in California gives Clinton the two biggest states that voted Super Tuesday as she picked up victories in both coasts by also winning her home state of New York.