(Super) Tuesday’s Democratic primary elections made one thing clear – Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders are now the party’s front runners for presidential nominee.
After receiving endorsements from recent drop-outs Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, as well as Beto O’Rourke, Biden claimed victory in the majority of reporting states. Biden’s states include Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Senator Bernie Sanders trailed behind Biden, winning Colorado, California, Utah, and his home state of Vermont. Despite Biden’s five state lead, Sanders remains a viable contender by losing a handful of states by only a small margin. The most significant of these states was Texas, which he lost by less than four percent. Biden won by larger margins in the south, including a 40.6% to 22.4% win in Arkansas.
Unsurprising to many, Bernie Sanders claimed victory in Colorado, leading Biden by over 13%. Unlike most states, Mike Bloomberg and Senator Elizabeth Warren received significant support in Colorado, both trailing close behind Biden. The talking heads on the news are speculating that this is due to Colorado’s beefed-up mail-in ballot program. This program allowed voters to send votes in by mail, starting weeks ago. The main factor to consider here is that weeks ago, the playing field looked a lot different. Klobachar, Buttigieg, Yang, and Steyer all remained on the Colorado ballot, meaning some votes went to these former candidates which would have otherwise likely gone to Biden or Sanders.
Mike Bloomberg, who was yesterday regarded as a front runner, dropped out early this morning and provided his financially valuable endorsement to Biden. Senator Warren remains in the race but is expected to drop out after receiving only fifty-three delegates. Tulsi Gabbard is also expected to drop out after receiving only one delegate in American Somoa. The territory’s other four delegates went to Mike Bloomberg. American Somoa, along with Puerto Rico, is allowed to vote in party primaries but not the presidential election.
At this point, the race has come down to a matter of whether or not Bernie Sanders can drum up enough support to turn the tables receive the nomination. Biden appears to have more popular support and will now have access to Bloomberg’s state of the art campaign organization. There’s no way of knowing which candidate will come out on top in the end.