The precedent of canceling campaign events due to coronavirus concerns is complicating plans for Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders at a critical time in the Democratic presidential primary calendar. Outbreaks of the virus are spread across major primary states.
The former vice president and the Vermont senator canceled Tuesday night campaign events in Cleveland, Ohio, which holds a primary on Mar. 17, hours before scheduled start times after Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday that “a gathering of a lot of people probably is not a great idea” due to three coronavirus cases in Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is located. DeWine declared a state of emergency in the state on Monday.
The Sanders campaign said that events “will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis,” while the Biden campaign said that it will “continue to consult with public health officials and public health guidance and make announcements about future events in the coming days.”
Operatives on both sides of the aisle are grappling with how to run campaigns in the midst of the deadly viral outbreak, planning to limit in-person events and door-to-door campaigning and increase advertisements and phone contact with voters. Biden campaign staff at a Monday night rally in Detroit offered hand sanitizer to all attendees as they entered the venue.
The three other states holding Democratic presidential primaries on Mar. 17 also have coronavirus cases, and two others are under states of emergency.
A debate scheduled on Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona, will have no live audience or areas for press. There are five active cases in the state, according to a John Hopkins University database, including two active cases in Maricopa County, where Phoenix is. The governor there has not declared a state of emergency.
Florida has 13 active cases and is under a state of emergency. Biden canceled a Thursday event that was scheduled to be in Tampa and will instead speak about coronavirus in Delaware.
The governor of Illinois on Monday issued a disaster declaration, the state’s version of a state of emergency. There are 10 active cases in the state, including several in the Chicago area, where Biden is scheduled to hold an event on Friday.
Campaigns are likely to consider political appearances as well as public health when deciding whether to cancel events. The Sanders campaign announced his canceled Tuesday rally as Biden was en route to Cleveland, and Biden’s campaign followed shortly thereafter. If one candidate continues to campaign in a state or area that the other avoids due to the virus, it could give the appearance of not taking the outbreak seriously enough or looking insensitive by risking health in order to court more votes.
Biden and Sanders must also factor in their own health when considering campaign schedules. At 77 and 78, they are part of the older population at highest risk of getting very sick from the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tuesday’s campaign event cancellations likely would not have happened if Biden and Sanders had stayed in Michigan, which has a major primary on Tuesday, for the evening. There are no reported coronavirus cases in the state.
