The election results from Super Tuesday clarified the race for the Democrat presidential nomination. Joe Biden stunned political pundits and significantly outperformed expectations, and Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) also performed well.
Biden won 10 states including Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Maine. Senator Sanders earned a plurality of votes in four states including Colorado, Utah, Vermont and the massive, delegate-rich state of California. California alone awarded 415 delegates in the Democrat primary last night.
According to the Crystal Ball/Decision Desk HQ Democrat delegate tracker, after the Super Tuesday election results, former Vice President Joe Biden has earned 501 delegates on his quest for the nomination, and Senator Bernie Sanders has earned 438 delegates. Senator Elizabeth Warren has accumulated 42 delegates.
After his disappointing showing on Tuesday, Michael Bloomberg dropped out of the race and endorsed Joe Biden. Prior to dropping out, Bloomberg earned 47 delegates. Bloomberg ran a record-breaking candidacy by spending $500 million dollars, more than any other presidential primary candidate in history. Nearly all the money came from his own pockets.
Two other candidates who have dropped out of the race have also earned delegates including South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 26 delegates and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) with seven.
To win the Democrat nomination for president, a candidate must earn 1,991 delegates to the Democrat National Convention which will be held from July 13-16, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After the results last night, there are still 2,918 delegates to be awarded. If no candidate reaches a majority of the delegates, the convention will be contested, which hasn’t happened since 1952. A contested convention means that no candidate wins the nomination in the first round. Backroom deals and favors could then become the means that candidates use to earn delegate’s support to clinch the victory on subsequent rounds.
On March 10, six more states will hold primaries including Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington. Michigan will grant the largest prize of the night by awarding 125 delegates. According to a recent poll of the state, Joe Biden is in the lead with 29 percent of voters supporting him compared to 22.5 percent for Senator Sanders.
In his speech following the elections on Tuesday night, Biden took a veiled swipe at Senator Sanders for being the longest-serving independent for most of his time in the U.S. Senate. “You want a nominee who’s a Democrat, a lifelong Democrat, a proud Democrat, an Obama Biden Democrat,” he thundered.
The Super Tuesday election results made clear that there are only two candidates left with a realistic shot to win the nomination. Either Vice President Biden or Senator Sanders will be facing President Trump this November. Next week will likely bring about further clarification after the next six states vote. The Daily Citizen will keep you updated as the primary process progresses.
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Photo by Phil Roeder
