Biden dominates with four wins in South, also takes Oklahoma

By Dan McCaleb and Jason Schaumburg | The Center Square

Former Vice President Joe Biden will win Super Tuesday primaries in Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, strengthening his position in the South after he also won South Carolina on Saturday.

He’s also the projected winner in Oklahoma.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders won his home state of Vermont as well as Colorado, according to projections.

North Carolina will award 110 pledged delegates when all votes are counted. Virginia will award 99 delegates, Tennessee 64, Alabama 52, Oklahoma 37, Vermont 16 and Colorado 67. Each states’ delegates will be split among the candidates based on the final outcome. Candidates must earn at least 15 percent of the vote in a given state to win any delegates.

American Samoa’s caucuses also concluded Tuesday, where billionaire Mike Bloomberg won his first delegates of the primary season. American Samoa will award six delegates.

Phil Roeder/Flickr

Vice President Joe Biden holds an event with voters in a gymnasium out on the campaign trail.

About one-third of all pledged delegates are at stake in the biggest night of the primary season. In all, 14 states are voting on Super Tuesday.

Sanders has a substantial lead in polling in the two largest of those states – California and Texas – where more than 600 delegates are up for grabs. But early returns in Texas show a tight race between Sanders and Biden.

Speaking to supporters before Texas and California results were in, Sanders said he is going to “win the Democratic nomination” and defeat Trump in November. “We are not only taking on the corporate establishment, we are taking on the political establishment.”

Heading into Super Tuesday, Sanders held the lead with 60 pledged delegates from previous primaries held in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Biden has the second most pledged delegates with 53. Biden also secured the endorsements of two former challengers this week – U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Buttigieg, who dropped out of the race on Sunday, has 26 pledged delegates.

Bloomberg, who was not on the ballot in the four early voting states, has spent hundreds of millions of his own dollars on advertising in the Super Tuesday states.

He told supporters Tuesday evening he was staying in the race no matter how well he did.

“In just three months, we’ve gone from 1 percent in the polls to being a contender for the Democratic nomination for president,” Bloomberg said. “Here’s what is clear: No matter how many delegates we win tonight, we have done something no one else thought was possible.”

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachesetts also has much at state on Super Tuesday but wasn’t faring well based on early returns. In all of the states reporting results, she was at or above 15 percent in only one, her home state.

When all Super Tuesday votes are counted, 1,344 of the 3,979 pledged delegates will be awarded, or roughly one-third. Counting superdelegates, 1,617 total delegates could be awarded.

The eventual nominee will need to secure 1,991 delegates at the Democratic convention in July in Milwaukee.

Virginia

With 100 percent of precincts reporting in Virginia, Biden topped Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 53 percent to 23 percent. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (11 percent) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (10 percent) rounded out the top four.

About 34 percent – 1,337 delegates – of the 3,979 Democratic delegates were on the line Tuesday, when 14 states and an American territory voted in Super Tuesday primaries. A total of 1,991 delegates are needed to secure the party’s nomination.

Virginia has 99 Democratic delegates in play.

Republicans did not hold a presidential primary election and will choose their delegates to the national convention at a state convention in May.

North Carolina

With 61 percent of precincts reporting in North Carolina, Biden led Sanders, 39 percent to 24 percent. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (14 percent) and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (11 percent) rounded out the top four.

About 34 percent – 1,337 delegates – of the 3,979 Democratic delegates were on the line Tuesday, when 14 states and an American territory voted in Super Tuesday primaries. A total of 1,991 delegates are needed to secure the party’s nomination.

North Carolina had 110 Democratic delegates in play.

President Donald Trump easily won the Republican primary for president. Trump earned 94 percent of the vote to defeat former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh (2 percent) and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld (2 percent). Two percent also voted no preference. Walsh abandoned his run for president after the Iowa caucuses last month.

Image courtesy of Phil Roeder/Flickr