US primaries as they happened: Clinton claims Kentucky, Sanders takes Oregon and Trump coasts to nomination

That's a wrap for our live coverage of the primary races in Kentucky and Oregon. The Kentucky race was so close that Associated Press did not declare a winner — though Hillary Clinton claimed the victory for herself. Bernie Sanders took Oregon. Uncontested Donald Trump grabbed Oregon.

The next big day is 7 June when the New Jersey, California, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota Republican and Democratic primaries, and the North Dakota Democratic caucuses will be held.

The so-close Kentucky race means Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will split the delegates with each getting 25. In Oregon, Sanders collects 25 delegates to Clinton's 24.

Sanders making a case for why he should be the Democratic nominee at his rally in Carson, California: "If the Democratic party wants to be certain that Donald Trump is defeated ... we together are the campaign to do that.

"Our campaign has the energy, and the enthusiasm, and the grassroots capability to make certain that in November, in the general election we have a yuge voter turnout."

"We are going to win Washington, we just won Oregon, and we are going to win California," an exuberant Sanders declares. "I am getting to like the West Coast!"

Associated Press declares Bernie Sanders the winner in Oregon.

Surprise! The essentially uncontested Donald Trump is the winner in Oregon.

Sanders jumps to lead in Oregon. With 58.1% of the precinct reporting Sanders racks up 53% of the vote to Clinton's 47%.

Sanders has already turned his focus to California, declaring that his speech in Carson is the "beginning of the final push to win California." As the crowd chants "Bernie, Bernie, Bernie," he adds: "I think we're going to win here in California."

Bernie Sanders takes the stage in Carson, California, declaring: "We are in till the last ballot is cast" as thousands of supporters roar their approval.

With 99.8% of precincts reporting in Kentucky, Hillary Clinton led Sanders by about 1,800 votes. The margin was less than one-half vote per precinct statewide.

Hillary Clinton claims victory in Kentucky but the race is so tight that Associated Press will not make the call.

Polling stations in Oregon are set to close in less than 10 minutes. As the state votes by mail, 11pm EDT/4am BST will the cutoff time for voters to drop their ballots off. Many votes have come in early in the mail, though, so results may begin pouring in as soon as polling locations close.

Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, who also served as secretary of Homeland Security, has become the latest GOP figure to announce he will not vote for Trump in November. But don't expect Ridge to vote for Clinton either. In an op-ed for Pennlive.com, Ridge wrote: Every four years since my 18th birthday, I have pulled the lever in support of the Republican nominee for President of the United States. That streak will end this November."

"With a bumper sticker approach to policy, his bombastic tone reflects the traits of a bully, not an American president and statesman," he continued. "If he cannot unite Republicans, how can he unite America? I simply cannot endorse him."

Ridge added: "Similarly, I cannot support Hillary Clinton, a divisive and untrustworthy candidate who will advance and extend failed Obama policies that have greatly weakened our nation's economy and security."

h/t The Hill

With nearly all the results reported in Kentucky but no winner called, our attention moves on to Oregon. Polling locations in the Beaver State will close in a little under an hour. Both Trump and Clinton are hoping to inch closer to securing the nominations for their respective party.

The Associated Press has called the Democratic race in Kentucky too close to call. However, with 98.1% reporting, Clinton leads 47.2% to 46.2%. The likely Democratic candidate has 209,870 votes to Sanders' 205,576.

Former GOP candidate Jeb Bush has become the latest Bush to refuse to vote for Trump. He also has a lot to say about Trump's Cinco de Mayo tweet.

With over 95% reporting, Sanders continues to hold a marginal lead in Kentucky. However, Clinton may still pull off a victory in the Bluegrass State.

Trump is set to meet GOP heavyweight Henry Kissinger to discuss foreign policy, sources close to him claim. The meeting with the former secretary of state is the latest in a series of sessions with Republican leaders as Trump attempts to unify the party before his nomination is official. Neither camp has confirmed the meeting but the two have engaged in weeks of phone conversations.

h/t The Washington Post

Clinton may have one less vice presidential contender. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said on Tuesday there is one big reason he would consider not accepting an offer: Ohio Governor John Kasich would nominate a Republican replacement if the ticket was a success.

"Tim Kaine and I were talking together today at lunch. We've very good friends and his name and my name are mentioned," Brown told MSNBC's Chris Matthews, referring to his colleague from Virginia. "We have no idea how this is done," he continued. "I've not been asked by Hillary's campaign to talk about this. I know they're looking at people, but my interest all along has been staying in the Senate and fighting for the issues that you talk about on your show."

Brown said it would "bother him" if a GOP replacement was named. "So I have no idea what she's going to do. I know that my focus is doing this job and come August and September, besides my Senate duties is to fight for Hillary Clinton to be the next president," he noted.

h/t POLITICO

With 56.2% reporting, Sanders remains in the lead, 46.8% to 46.5%. However, with such close margins, the two candidates are bound to split the state's 55 delegates fairly equally.

Wondering why Sanders is ahead when polling showed Clinton in the lead? It's all about sample size and looking at races in surrounding states Slate's Josh Voorhees says. There has been limited polling in both Kentucky and Oregon, but recent races in neighbouring states could reveal who's truly winning in those states.

Sanders took a 5-point victory in Indiana and a 15-point win in West Virginia, which could mean he'll do better than expected in the Bluegrass State. The Vermont senator also did extremely well in Idaho and Washington—a sign that he can do equally as well in Oregon. Also working in his favour, in the Beaver State, is a higher voter turnout and an overly liberal electorate.

h/t Slate

In a few minutes, all polling locations in Kentucky will be closed. With 9.3% reporting, Sanders has managed to overtake the lead with 47.3% to 45.5%. But will he maintain that lead?

Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid, is not happy with Sanders' response to the chaos in Nevada by his supporters. "I'm surprised at the statement. I thought he was going to do something different," Reid told CNN.

"Bernie should say something and not have some silly statement. Bernie is better than that. He should say something about this [and] not have some statement someone else prepared for him".

Reid had urged Sanders to control his supporters and condemn the violence (death threats included) during a 10-minute phone conversation on Tuesday (17 May). Instead, Sanders placed blame on the Democratic Party, accusing the establishment of biased treatment.

h/t The Hill

Trump is willing to speak to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in an attempt to stop Pyongyang's nuclear programme, the GOP candidate told Reuters today.

"I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him," Trump said of Kim. "At the same time I would put a lot of pressure on China because economically we have tremendous power over China," he said.

The bombastic real estate mogul added that he also disapproves of Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in eastern Ukraine, wants a renegotiation of the Paris climate accord and would dismantle Dodd-Frank financial regulations if elected.

h/t Reuters

Polling locations in part of Kentucky will close at 6pm EDT/11pm BST, with preliminary results pouring in shortly thereafter. Results will be updated as they arrive.

Clinton may not have the nomination just yet, but she is clearly looking ahead to a general election fight with Trump. The former secretary of state took to Twitter to hit out against the likely GOP nominee for refusing to release his tax returns and for his tax plan.

The tweets come after Clinton called Trump's foreign policy 'offensive and dangerous'.

Donald Trump's three last GOP competitors have not strayed far from the media's eye. Florida Senator, Marco Rubio, launched quite the Twitter rant last night as he called out The Washington Post for speculating about his post-campaign ambitions. Meanwhile, Ohio Governor, John Kasich, ruled out running as a third party candidate and Ted Cruz launched his re-election bid for 2018 while fuelling rumours of a 2020 presidential campaign.

It is not shaping up to be a great day for Bernie Sanders. Following a chaotic Nevada Democratic Convention over the weekend, which led to death threats from Sanders' supporters to the Nevada Democratic Party and Chairwoman Roberta Lange, tensions have been high.

Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, called the unrest a "test of leadership" for Sanders. In response, the Vermont senator did not apologise for his supporters' actions, but instead lay the blame on the Democratic Party.

It is imperative that the Democratic leadership, both nationally and in the states, understand that the political world is changing and that millions of Americans are outraged at establishment politics and establishment economics. The people of this country want a government which represents all of us, not just the 1 percent, super PACs and wealthy campaign contributors.

The Democratic Party has a choice. It can open its doors and welcome into the party people who are prepared to fight for real economic and social change – people who are willing to take on Wall Street, corporate greed and a fossil fuel industry which is destroying this planet. Or the party can choose to maintain its status quo structure, remain dependent on big-money campaign contributions and be a party with limited participation and limited energy.

Within the last few days there have been a number of criticisms made against my campaign organization. Party leaders in Nevada, for example, claim that the Sanders campaign has a 'penchant for violence.' That is nonsense. Our campaign has held giant rallies all across this country, including in high-crime areas, and there have been zero reports of violence. Our campaign of course believes in non-violent change and it goes without saying that I condemn any and all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals. But, when we speak of violence, I should add here that months ago, during the Nevada campaign, shots were fired into my campaign office in Nevada and apartment housing complex my campaign staff lived in was broken into and ransacked.

If the Democratic Party is to be successful in November, it is imperative that all state parties treat our campaign supporters with fairness and the respect that they have earned.

So, what else could adding to an already very bad day for Sanders? A superdelegate from the US Virgin Islands has rescinded his support of Sanders and instead put his weight behind Hillary Clinton. "There are no more windmills to joust against and no more mountains to climb," said Emmett Hansen II. "It comes down to one thing: what's best for the Virgin Islands, to be fully incorporated into the United States."

h/t The Guardian, The Washington Post and Bloomberg Politics

Welcome to our live coverage of tonight's primaries in Kentucky and Oregon. Polling locations will close in a few hours in the Bluegrass State—where Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is projected to win—while voters in the Beaver State have until much later tonight.

Clinton is just 143 delegates short of clinching the nomination, while presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump needs a mere 94 delegates to secure the nomination. Primary season is slowly coming to a close, with just three more primary nights ahead.