Hillary Clinton's campaign announced a return visit by the former president after reducing her time in N.J.
WASHINGTON -- Former President Bill Clinton is making a return engagement to New Jersey before the June 7 primary.
Clinton is to campaign at the Cranford campus of Union County College on Wednesday for his wife, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. What the campaign is calling an "organizing event" is to begin at 3:45 p.m.
The former president campaigned in Edison last week, touting the former secretary of state's experience in foreign policy.
His latest appearance was announced on the same day that Hillary Clinton cancelled her Thursday New Jersey event to return to California.
Hillary Clinton still is scheduled to appear Wednesday at the Golden Dome Athletic Center at Rutgers University in Newark, meaning both Clintons will be in New Jersey on the same day. On Tuesday, she will attend an East Brunswick fundraiser with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who has been mentioned as a potential Clinton running mate.
Rather than speak at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor the following day, she instead will spend Thursday through Monday in California, which will send 548 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in July, compared to New Jersey's 142. Both California and New Jersey will vote the same day.
According to the Associated Press, Clinton is just 73 delegates short of the 2,383 she needs to be nominated on the first ballot at the convention in Philadelphia. That means that she could clinch the nomination before California's polls close.
Still, a victory in the most populous U.S. state would be a boost for either Clinton or her Democratic rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is hoping to amass as many delegates as possible to influence the party platform.
California is more competitive than New Jersey, according to recent polling.
Clinton leads Sanders by eight points in California, 50 percent to 42 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.
She is ahead of Sanders in New Jersey by an average of 17 points, 55 percent to 38 percent, according to Real Clear Politics. Before becoming secretary of state, Clinton represented the neighboring state of New York for eight years in the U.S. Senate.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook