Elizabeth Warren never called it a must-win state for her Democratic presidential campaign, but she suffered an embarrassing defeat in her home state of Massachusetts on Super Tuesday.
Joe Biden, the two-term vice president, had 33.4% of the vote and 19-plus delegates of the state’s 91 available delegates on her home turf, with 48% of precincts reporting after polls closed at 8 p.m. EST. Bernie Sanders, the senator from neighboring Vermont, had 26.2% and 11-plus delegates, while Warren had 21.4% and five-plus delegates.
Warren, 70, whose presidential bid hangs in the balance after soft performances in the first four early nominating states, was coy on her expectations in the state, spending Election Night in Detroit, which doesn’t vote on Super Tuesday.
Her campaign is adamant that her path to the 2020 nomination doesn’t rely on winning states. Rather, her advisers cite data that indicate she’ll reach the 15% threshold of support needed to still clinch delegates at the substate level — for example, by congressional or state senate districts.
President Trump weighed in on her predicament via Twitter.
“Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren, other than Mini Mike, was the loser of the night. She didn’t even come close to winning her home state of Massachusetts. Well, now she can just sit back with her husband and have a nice cold beer!” he wrote, referring to her claims to Native American heritage and a livestream she hosted of her cracking open a beer in her kitchen.
Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren, other than Mini Mike, was the loser of the night. She didn’t even come close to winning her home state of Massachusetts. Well, now she can just sit back with her husband and have a nice cold beer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2020
Sanders, 78, has underperformed in New England so far this primary cycle, with closer than expected results in Maine and New Hampshire. Although the senator won 51.8% of the vote and nine-plus delegates in his home state of Vermont, Biden secured 21.4% support and three-plus delegates, with 82% of precincts reporting.
