Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has secured the number of delegates necessary to be presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in the November elections, according to a count carried out by the NBC channel on Monday and as reported by the Associated Press.

Becomes the first woman to top a major-party ticket in US

After her victory over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in Puerto Rico on Sunday and with the new support from superdelegates in recent days, Clinton has surpassed the 2,383 delegates needed as is now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

It has been a long and bruising primary season for Hillary as she becomes the first woman to lead a major party in the race for the White House.

The former first lady will almost certainly be proclaimed the Democratic party nominee at the July convention in Philadelphia, and will face the unofficial candidate for the Republican party Donald Trump in the elections.

NBC’s count was released one day ahead of the last major primary elections in which Democrats in New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico and California, the most populous state in the country, will go to the polls on Tuesday.

“According to the news, we are on the brink of a historic and unprecedented moment,” Clinton told her supporters.

She said there were “primaries to win”, in reference to Tuesday’s primaries.

Once named the party’s official candidate at the July convention, Clinton will become the first woman to enter the presidential race from one of the two major parties.

NBC calculated that Clinton has 2,384 delegates, one above the minimum required, including 1,812 delegates won in the primaries and 572 superdelegates.

Her rival, democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, has 1,566 delegates, 1,520 of them from the primaries and only 46 superdelegates, according to NBC.