The Associated Press reports Hillary Clinton has won enough pledged and superdelegates to be the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

But that does not mean the primaries are over. And what happens Tuesday will play a big role in what happens in the Democratic Party heading to July.

  • Tuesday's primaries: California, New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota; North Dakota Democratic caucus
  • California has 475 pledged delegates up for grabs, distributed proportionally
  • Sanders win in California gives him case to push through to the DNC

California voters normally don't expect to get attention from presidential candidates during primary season. Over the last few cycles, the nominees have largely been decided before we get to June.

But on Tuesday, all eyes will be on the Golden State, which has the biggest prize of them all in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination — one that could make a difference in what happens in July at the Democratic National Convention.

Here is the delegate breakdown by state:

  • California: 475
  • New Jersey: 126
  • Montana: 21
  • New Mexico: 34
  • South Dakota: 20
  • North Dakota: 18

That gives us a total of 694 pledged delegates up for grabs Tuesday — all proportionally divvied up.

And here is the current pledged delegate count:

  • Bernie Sanders: 1,521
  • Hillary Clinton: 1,812

Candidates need 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination, and that's a total made up of any combination of pledged delegates and superdelegates, which are party leaders, top lawmakers, former Democratic presidents, etc.

Major news outlets have identified and repeatedly surveyed these 714 superdelegates over the last few months. The Associated Press reported Monday that a burst of new pledges of support from superdelegates pushed Clinton over the top. All but 95 are committed, and the vast majority are going for Clinton.

If you look at the numbers, delegates aside, Clinton's pending win is fairly decisive. She leads Sanders in the popular vote by more than 3 million. She won 29 caucuses and primaries to Sanders' 21.

However, Sanders and his supporters say he will not back down if Clinton's victory is determined by superdelegates. He says he will take the outcome all the way to the convention.

Clinton's campaign, for her part, is not trumpeting AP's report. The campaign posted this Monday night:

What happens Tuesday?

As the latest polls stand right now, Clinton is beating Sanders in New Jersey, 61-34. She also has a razor-thin lead in California, 49-47.

But California, Montana and North Dakota have open primaries, which means independent voters can cast ballots. And there is some uncertainty in the polling.

Say Clinton and Sanders splits the 694 delegates evenly. That's 347 delegates. That gives Clinton 1,868 pledged delegates. She would need the superdelegates to put her over, no matter what.

The bigger a win for Clinton, the better it looks for her. It's icing on the cake. The bigger the win for Sanders, the easier he can try to make the case that superdelegates thwart the wishes of the American voter, even though the American voter seems to prefer Clinton -- by more than 3 million votes.

What does Sanders do next?

Sanders' next move will be to try to convince the remaining 95 uncommitted superdelegates, plus many of Clinton's superdelegates to change sides. Superdelegates can change their vote all the way to the Democratic National Convention.

"If I win tomorrow in California, if we do very well, and I don't know that we will — we may — and we do well in the other states, if there are superdelegates out there who say, 'you know what, looking at the objective evidence of polling, looking at the objective evidence of who has the strongest grassroots campaign and can bring out the larger voter turnout,' which I think is crucial for November, if some of those superdelegates begin to think that is Bernie Sanders, I think that is not an insignificant thing," said Sanders while campaigning in California.

However, Sanders will have an uphill climb. Many of the superdelegates say they are committed to Clinton because of long ties and relationships. They are loyal to her, and they are loyal to the party. Sanders was not a Democrat before he ran for president.

All of this could make for a difficult road to the DNC, and it could also make for a very interesting, contested convention.

Will Democrats move to make peace with Sanders?

The Democratic party has worked hard to make sure the national convention is a unifying event and a boost to the general election. Since the turbulent 60s and 70s, the party has taken steps (like superdelegates), to make sure the nomination is generally set before delegates hit the DNC floor.

The closest Democrats came to a contested convention recently was the 2008 Election. Democratic leaders held a meeting where an agreement was reached on delegates and superdelegates that put then-candidate Barack Obama over the top — over Hillary Clinton.

While Sanders makes his case to the superdelegates, the party make its case to Sanders. Sources say Sanders and President Obama spoke by phone Sunday, while Sanders campaigned in California. Neither Sanders nor Obama would say what they spoke about.

AP sources inside the White House also say the president is preparing to endorse Hillary Clinton in the next week or so, after Tuesday's primaries.

Other Democratic leaders have also spoken to Sanders.

Clinton will need the support of Sanders voters against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in November. Some Sanders supporters have already declared they are #BernieorBust, but there is hope that if Sanders is guaranteed a moral victory, perhaps by adding his policies to the party platform or giving him a leadership role of some kind, that Sanders might come to Clinton's side in the end — and bring some of his supporters.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.