March 3, 2020
Update 10:21 p.m.: Bernie Sanders has won California and Utah.
With 6% of the votes counted, the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist owns 27.5% of the vote, with Bloomberg–who will reportedly reassess his candidacy after a disappointed Super Tuesday–currently occupying second place with 19.7% of the Golden State’s vote.
Biden, whose strong Super Tuesday now includes victories in Massachusetts and Minnesota, sits third in the California primary at 17.4%. Nevertheless, Biden remains eight percentage points ahead of Sanders in Minnesota (77% reported) and 6.2 percentage points ahead of Sanders in Massachusetts (75% reporting), blunting the blow of a resounding Sanders victory in California.
Warren’s campaign continues to flounder, with the Massachusetts Senator finishing a distant third in her home state. With Biden and Sanders pulling away in the delegate count, a Warren nomination is now a mathematic improbability.
Update 9:23 p.m.: CNN projects a Biden victory in Arkansas, where he currently leads by a 14.2% margin with over 40% reporting. Sanders sits in second place with 20.8% of the vote while Bloomberg is a close third at 19.5%
Update 9:03 p.m.: Bernie Sanders has claimed Colorado, earning 18 of the 30 available delegates via a 36.2% share with 30% of ballots reported. Mike Bloomberg and Joe Biden finished a distant second and third, claiming seven (23.2% of the vote) and five delegates (20.9%), respectively.
Biden won both Tennessee and Oklahoma, continuing his torrid pace on Super Tuesday. The former Vice President has thus far claimed 21 of the 64 Tennessee delegates by way of claiming 40.4% of the popular vote, with 79% of votes reported. Biden also earned 15 of Oklahoma’s 37 delegates, racing out to a 13.3% lead. Sanders finished in second place in both Oklahoma and Tennessee
Elizabeth Warren failed to earn a single delegate in Tennessee, Oklahoma or Colorado.
7:20 p.m.: Former Vice President Joe Biden has secured a majority in the Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama Democratic primaries, according to Fox News projections. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has reportedly won his home state of Vermont.
Following the suspension of three presidential campaigns, Biden benefited from a swell of support from former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. With results from the remaining eleven Super Tuesday states expected in the next few hours.
Biden currently holds 41.1% of reported votes in Alabama and 36.8% of votes in North Carolina, states which holds 52 and 110 delegates, respectively. Biden’s strong performances come after a resounding victory in the South Carolina Democratic primary.
Vermont State Senator currently holds 52.1% of the vote in Vermont, which has reported 22% of all ballots. Sanders is depending on strong showings in both California and Texas, two states that award 415 and 228 delegates. However, as of 7:00 p.m CST, Biden holds a narrow lead over Sanders. However, California withholds delegates from any candidate who fails to collect at least 15% of the state vote.
Biden has been aggressive in his pursuit of the Texas vote, hosting a Monday night rally in Dallas. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke appeared at the rally to offer Biden his endorsement.
The Democratic nomination is contingent on a candidate collected at least 1,991 of the 3,979 pledged DNC delegates. Absent of a candidate collecting the majority, the vote is turned over to superdelegates, or party insiders who are allowed to cast their votes.
Super Tuesday represents one-third of the available vote across 14 states. A poor Super Tuesday outing could derail a prospective candidate’s campaign, as evidenced by three candidates dropping out of the primary in the days leading up to Super Tuesday to avoid disrupting the vote.
As of 8 p.m., polls were closed in Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and the majority of Texas. Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota and Tennessee are scheduled to close their polls shortly.
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Eric D Knight • Mar 3, 2020 at 7:45 pm
Biden will lose to Trump, our only hope for a successful election was to put our efforts into Bernie Sanders. Sadly, the DNC would rather see Trump in office than to see real reform.