Super Tuesday results in Oklahoma and Texas are warnings that Bernie Sanders is failing to expand his coalition from 2016.
The Associated Press called Oklahoma for former Vice President Joe Biden, a blow to Sanders since he won it handily against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Sanders has high hopes of winning Texas, which has 228 delegates up for grabs and a large Latino population likely to support the Vermont senator. First results show he and Biden are neck-and-neck in the Lone Star state, and analysts say that could be bad news for Sanders.
Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report noted that Biden was down only 6% statewide as Austin’s early vote was reported, arguing that Biden is likely to get a boost from Tuesday votes. He added that Biden is “winning African Americans there handily” in the state.
If Michael Bloomberg was not in the race, splitting the centrist vote, Biden would likely have a lead on Sanders.
The tight race is another sign that Biden’s victory on Saturday in South Carolina, followed by the quick endorsements of former rivals Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Beto O’Rourke, gave a serious boost to what had been a flagging campaign that many people were already writing off.
Joe Biden enjoyed big early Super Tuesday wins, with Virginia and North Carolina called for the former vice president while his archrival, Bernie Sanders secured only his home state of Vermont.
News organizations called Virginia and North Carolina for Biden just seconds after polls closed, indicating that his wins were by such big margins that they could not be in doubt.
8:05 p.m. EST: Big night for Joe Biden in early Super Tuesday states
7:18 p.m. EST: Biden vs. Sanders race taking shape as first polls close
Results from 14 states plus the territory of American Samoa on Tuesday will account for 1,344 pledged nominating delegates, about a third of the total. A candidate needs a majority of 1,991 pledged delegates to win the nomination on the first Democratic National Convention ballot and prevent a contested convention, in which case about 770 automatic superdelegates, party leaders such as Democratic National Committee members, and Democratic members of Congress are permitted to vote for whomever they wish.
Delegates are allocated based on the proportion of statewide votes and votes within congressional districts (except for Texas, which allocates district delegates based on state Senate districts rather than congressional districts). Candidates must obtain 15% support statewide or in at least one district to earn delegates, meaning that a candidate could pick up some district delegates even if they do not capture more than 15% support statewide.
Polls have not yet closed in the following states:
California — 415 pledged delegates
Polls in California close at 11 p.m. EST (8 p.m. PST).
About 40% of California’s primary electorate votes absentee by mail, meaning that Biden’s wave of endorsements from former rivals on Monday could have a smaller effect there.
Mail-in ballots could also delay declaring a winner in the primary. The last ballots are expected to arrive in mid-March.
Utah — 29 pledged delegates
Polls in Utah close at 10 p.m. EST (8 p.m. MST).
