Clinton becomes First Woman nominated for U.S President

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton secured the Democratic Party’s 2016 nomination for the White House on Tuesday (July 26), becoming the first woman to head the ticket of a major party in U.S. history.

Clinton will now face Republican candidate Donald Trump in the national election on November 8th.

In a symbolic show of party unity, Clinton‘s former rival, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, told the chairwoman from the convention floor that Clinton should be selected as the party’s nominee at the dramatic climax of a state-by-state roll call at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia.

After a tough battle with Sanders during the state nominating contests, Clinton is now the party’s standard-bearer against Republican nominee Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 election.

During the roll call vote at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania states read out their delegate allocation to the two candidates.

South Dakota gave Clinton 15 votes, formally ensuring that she had more than the 2,383 votes needed to win the nomination. She emerged with a total of 2,842 votes to Sanders’ 1,865.

Sanders’ older brother, Larry Sanders, made an emotional speech as he cast a vote for Democrats Abroad for Bernie.

“They loved the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt and would be especially proud that Bernard is renewing that vision. It is with enormous pride that I cast my vote for Bernie Sanders,” he said.

In nominating Clinton, delegate after delegate made the point that the selection of a woman was a milestone in America’s 240-year-old history. U.S. women got the right to vote in 1920 after ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

Sanders came down from his seat in the bleachers to the convention floor when the state of Vermont cast its vote and was introduced by the Chair of the Vermont Democratic Party, Dottie Deans.

On behalf of the home state of Senator Bernie Sanders who has changed the trajectory of this country in a way that will make the lives of working Americans better for generations to come,” she said.

Sanders then stood to formally request Clinton be given the nomination.

“I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States,” Sanders told thousands of delegates in the Wells Fargo Center, which erupted in cheers.

Clinton, who promises to tackle income inequality and rein in Wall Street if she becomes president, is eager to portray Trump, a businessman and former reality TV show host, as too unstable to sit in the Oval Office.

But Trump, who has never held elective office, got a boost in opinion polls from his nomination at the Republican convention last week. He had a 2-point lead over Clinton in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday, the first time he has been ahead since early May.

Sanders has endorsed Clinton, a former first lady and U.S. senator, but some of his supporters protested in Philadelphia against the party leadership’s apparent backing of her during the bitter Democratic primary fight.