Joe Biden is having another good primary night.
News outlets quickly called Mississippi and Missouri for the former vice president, meaning that early data showed he won by such large margins that waiting for more results was not necessary. Biden was favored to win those states, but the large margins will help Biden expand his delegate lead.
The results further Biden’s lead and put him in a commanding position to claim the Democratic nomination and the right to challenge President Trump in November. He’s been the front-runner since cleaning up on Super Tuesday a week ago, which came on the heels of his decisive victory in the South Carolina primary on Feb. 29.
Polls have closed in North Dakota, but the race has not yet been called. The state Democratic Party, rather than the state government, ran the primary there.
In Michigan, the most important contest of the night, Biden has an early lead of 54.7% to socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 41.4%, but only 1% of precincts are reporting.
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Biden’s primary day got off to a rough start when a worker at a Detroit automobile plant confronted him, accusing the former vice president of “actively trying to end our Second Amendment right and take away our guns.” Biden told the man that he was “full of shit” and referred to an “AR-14.”
Results in Michigan could be delayed due to a backlog of absentee votes.
There are 353 delegates at stake in Tuesday’s six primary contests, which will be proportionally allocated based on both statewide results and results in congressional districts. A candidate needs 1,991 pledged delegates to secure the Democratic presidential nomination. As of Tuesday afternoon, Biden has 670 delegates, and Sanders has 574, but about 90 delegates from Super Tuesday contests have yet to be allocated.
Polls have not yet closed in the following states:
Idaho — 20 delegates
Most polls close at 10 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. MDT), while nine northern counties in the Pacific time zone close at 11 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. PDT).
Michigan — 125 delegates
Most polls in Michigan have already closed, but some polls close at 9 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. CDT).
Washington — 89 delegates
Voters in Washington must return mail-in ballots by 11 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. PDT).
