Super Tuesday: Biden cements comeback with win in Texas
March 4, 2020
Former US Vice President Joe Biden has won the majority vote in the Democratic primary in Texas, the state with the second-largest number of delegates on Super Tuesday, cementing his new status as frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Rival Senator Bernie Sanders, however, is projected to come out on top in California, the state with the biggest sway with a total of 415 delegates up for grabs.
Read more: Opinion: Joe Biden's comeback shows Democrats desire unity
What does this mean for the overall results?
The number of delegates won by each of the candidates are still being tabulated as final results from each state trickle in.
Reuters forecasted Biden coming away from Super Tuesday with at least 247 delegates and Sanders with at least 179. Fellow rivals Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard were projected to win nine, eight, and one delegates, respectively.
The former vice president got the largest share of the vote in eight states, two of which — Virginia and North Carolina — also offer a large number of delegates.
Bernie Sanders, who was the frontrunner until Tuesday, has won the majority in Colorado, Utah, and his home state of Vermont.
Read more: Super Tuesday – a 'how to' guide to the 2020 US primary elections
How does it stand?
With 1,334 or about one-third of delegates up for grabs – more than any other primary day – Super Tuesday is seen as a defining moment for Democratic candidates vying for the party's nomination.
A candidate must have at least 1,991 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
- Alabama (52) — Joe Biden wins majority
- Arkansas (31) — Joe Biden wins majority
- California (415) — Bernie Sanders projected to win majority
- Colorado (67) — Bernie Sanders wins majority
- Maine (24) — None yet
- Massachusetts (91) — Joe Biden wins majority
- Minnesota (75) — Joe Biden wins majority
- North Carolina (110) — Joe Biden wins majority
- Oklahoma (37) — Joe Biden wins majority
- Tennessee (64) — Joe Biden wins majority
- Texas (228) — Joe Biden wins majority
- Utah (28) — Bernie Sanders wins majority
- Vermont (16) — Bernie Sanders wins majority
- Virginia (99) — Joe Biden wins majority
- American Samoa (6) — Mike Bloomberg wins majority
What has the reaction been?
Bernie Sanders thanked his supporters in Vermont and assured them that he will clinch the Democratic nomination at the party's convention in July.
"Tonight I tell you with absolute confidence, we are going to win the Democratic nomination. And we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of the country," the Vermont senator said.
He also took a dig at his rival Joe Biden. "You cannot beat Trump with the same-old, same-old kind of politics," Sanders said. Highlighting the past record of Biden, he said the race will be a contrast in ideas.
Read more: Bernie Sanders has a clear lead in artist endorsements
"One of us in this race led the opposition to war in Iraq," Sanders said, referring to himself. "Another candidate voted for the war in Iraq. One of us has spent his entire life fighting against cuts in social security … another candidate has been on the floor of the Senate, calling for cuts in social security, Medicare and Medicaid and the veteran's budget."
The former vice president also took aim at the three-term senator without naming him. "People are talking about a revolution. We started a movement," Biden said, referring to Sanders' signature line.
What do the candidates stand for?
Super Tuesday, much like the previous primaries, saw a contest between the progressives and the moderates within the Democratic party. Sanders and Warren are both considered progressives while Biden and Bloomberg represent the moderate section of the party. Elizabeth Warren has been making the case for herself as the alternate progressive candidate. Biden, on the other side, has been consolidating the moderate vote with endorsements from former Democratic candidates.
Mike Bloomberg, who controversially sat out the first four primaries and caucuses to focus on more delegate-heavy states, won his first and only primary in the US territory of American Samoa, securing five delegates. The billionaire candidate who spent nearly $500 million (€448 million), mostly on ads in the Super Tuesday states, will reportedly reassess his campaign on Wednesday. But a campaign official said this did not mean he would drop out, according to Reuters.
kp,adi/aw (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)