BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Former Vice President Joe Biden notched another win in the South, claiming victory in Alabama despite former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pouring millions into the Super Tuesday state.
Biden’s win in Alabama, where more than a quarter of the residents are African American, shows his ability to mobilize black voters across the South, especially after his decisive win in South Carolina on Saturday.
Alabama has 52 pledged delegates. Biden won North Carolina and Virginia earlier in the night, where 110 and 99 pledged delegates are up for grabs, respectively. A total of 1,991 delegates are needed to claim the nomination at the Democratic National Convention this summer.
“Joe Biden is the kind of candidate that can capture the South. He can capture the Midwest. He can capture everyone. Not that he will always win, but he will capture enough that he’s going to help people up and down the ballot for the Democratic Party,” Alabama Sen. Doug Jones said at a campaign event featuring Jill Biden in Birmingham on Monday.
Jones said he heard from plenty of worried voters after Biden’s lackluster performance in the first three voting contests.
“When this campaign gets to a point where the real Democratic Party, the diversity of the Democratic Party starts to shine through, that’s when Joe Biden is going to start shining through,” Jones said he told them.
Scott Murner, a legal assistant from Birmingham, told the Washington Examiner he would have rethought voting for Biden if he had not performed well in South Carolina.
Bloomberg, a billionaire, had an overwhelming presence in the state, spending more than $8 million on television and radio ads in the past two months. He also had 30 campaign staff members across four offices in the state, a huge investment in a historically red state not typically prioritized by Democratic candidates.
“Without him there, Joe would have had a much greater presence,” Allene Crew, a retired special education teacher from Fayette, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s unfair that Bloomberg has the money to do that.”
While Bloomberg had the endorsement of the Alabama Democratic Conference, the state’s largest black caucus, Biden had the backing of Rep. Terri Sewell, an influential member of the Black Congressional Caucus with connections to the Obama administration, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, and Selma Mayor Darrio Melton.
Victoria Truss, who supports Biden, said her biggest concern about the former vice president is whether he can remain “as focused as he was in office.”
“Is that still going to parallel four years later?” the Birmingham accountant told the Washington Examiner.
