Heidi M. Przybyla

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders made a direct appeal to Democratic Party superdelegates to switch their support from Hillary Clinton, as he falls further behind in the pledged delegates needed to win the nomination and faces a self-described “uphill” fight.

Superdelegates are party officials who have a vote at the convention in July in Philadelphia, and Sanders cannot defeat Clinton unless large numbers of them defect from her and he wins remaining primaries by large margins.

During a news conference here, Sanders’ pitch was that superdelegates from states he carried, such as New Hampshire and Minnesota, should back him instead of Clinton, even if it wouldn’t be enough to close the gap with her.

Sanders acknowledged he would still need to win 65% of pledged delegates to beat Clinton, calling it “admittedly a tough road to climb, but not an impossible one.”

The appeal comes as the Vermont senator saw a drop off in fundraising last month, his campaign has begun to lay off hundreds of staffers and Clinton is shifting her campaign staff to general election swing states.

Clinton has pushed back on Sanders by pointing out that she holds a strong lead among pledged delegates and has received nearly 2.7 million more popular votes than Sanders has. Still, Sanders says he is fighting for every single delegate, a bid that will also strengthen his hand in shaping the party’s platform in Philadelphia even if he loses.

Sanders says Clinton, a former first lady, New York senator and secretary of State, has the vast majority of superdelegates, even in states that he carried by a landslide like New Hampshire. Clinton has an estimated 520 superdelegates, including many who committed even before their states cast votes, while Sanders has 39 superdelegates. Yet Clinton also enjoys a significant lead in the pledged delegates earned through her statewide victories, with 1,645 pledged delegates to Sanders’ 1,318.

In making his case, Sanders also said most polls show him leading front-runner Donald Trump by a wider margin than Clinton in a theoretical general election. “This is an issue I hope superdelegates will pay keen attention to,” said Sanders.

“The evidence is extremely clear that I would be the stronger candidate to defeat Donald Trump,” said Sanders.

Earlier in the day, the Sanders campaign said he raised $25.8 million in April, a significant drop off from previous months and compared to the $46 million he posted in March.