By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
The two are the front-runners among Democratic presidential hopefuls, but Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg remain very much in the race.
Fourteen states, the territory of American Samoa, and Democrats living abroad are voting in presidential primaries today, Super Tuesday. The Advocate will track state results as they come in.
12 midnight Pacific: A winner has yet to be projected in California, the most delegate-rich state voting Super Tuesday, while Maine is still too close to call.
But the Super Tuesday results so far have pushed Joe Biden ahead of Bernie Sanders in the delegate count. To this point in the primary season, Joe Biden has won 410 delegates, 357 of those on Super Tuesday, and Bernie Sanders 315, 255 of them on Super Tuesday, according to NBC News. Other candidates are far behind. The counts may change a great deal when California comes in, with its 415 delegates; Sanders is leading in the state. Democratic delegates are allocated proportionally in each state; find a full explanation of how it works here.
Michael Bloomberg is reported to be reevaluating his presidential campaign, having won only American Samoa and amassed 12 delegates. He is set to meet with advisers Wednesday morning.
10:41 p.m. Pacific: Texas, one of the biggest states in play, has been called for Joe Biden. California and Maine remain too close to call. But in any case, Biden will wind up with a large delegate haul from Super Tuesday.
7:59 p.m. Pacific: Joe Biden has been projected as the winner in Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren's home state and adjacent to Sanders's. "This is all the more shocking," said Brian Williams of NBC News.
7:35 p.m. Pacific: Joe Biden just spoke to supporters in Los Angeles. He noted that his campaign had been counted out until his victory in the South Carolina primary Saturday. For all those who've been knocked down or counted out, "this is your campaign," he said.
He pledged that as president he would build on the Affordable Care Act, which passed when he was vice president and Barack Obama was president, to make health care affordable to all and to bring prescription drug prices down. He promised to fight for gun control and to lead the world to take on climate change, with the U.S. rejoining the Paris climate accord, which Donald Trump has withdrawn from. He further said he would create a path to citizenship for Dreamers -- undocumented immigrants brought into the U.S. as children -- and address the needs of the middle and working classes, who he credited with building the nation.
He thanked the former presidential aspirants who'd endorsed him. "We won Minnesota because of Amy Klobuchar and we're winning Texas because of Beto O'Rourke," he said. He added that he was "so proud to have been endorsed by Mayor Pete [Buttigieg]," whose state, Indiana, was not in play tonight, and Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, where Biden won the primary Saturday. "Our campaign represents the diversity of this nation," he said.
7:30 p.m. Pacific: Utah has been called for Bernie Sanders.
7:15 p.m. Pacific: Bernie Sanders just finished addressing supporters in Essex Junction, Vt. Even though, by then, he had won just two states to Joe Biden's seven in Tuesday's voting, he struck an optimistic note, saying, "Tonight, I can tell you with absolute confidence we are going to win the Democratic presidential nomination and we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of this country."
He drew contrasts between himself and Biden, pointing out that Biden had voted for the Iraq war and for a more restrictive bankruptcy law, but Sanders had voted against both. He promised that under his presidency, health care would be a human right in the U.S. and everyone would be able to go to college without going into debt. He pledged to fight the "greed of insurance companies" and address "the existential crisis of climate change."
His campaign is building a new movement of the working class, he said, and "we're going to beat Trump because this will become a contrast in ideas."
7:05 p.m. Pacific: Arkansas has been called for Joe Biden.
6:50 p.m. Pacific: The Associated Press has called Minnesota for Joe Biden.
6:35 p.m. Pacific: Colorado has gone against the night's trend, with Bernie Sanders projected to win. And so far Michael Bloomberg is in second place and Joe Biden in third.
6:15 p.m. Pacific: Oklahoma has been called for Joe Biden.
6:10 p.m. Pacific: Tennessee, where voting went on despite the deadly tornadoes that devastated parts of the state, has been called for Joe Biden.
5:30 p.m. Pacific: LGBTQ voters have had record turnout. An NBC News exit poll found that 10 percent of those who voted today were LGBTQ, while the LGBTQ people represent 4.5 percent of the U.S. adult population.
"Tonight, LGBTQ people showed up in record numbers and cemented our status as a crucial constituency to court," Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David said in a statement responding to the news. "LGBTQ people and our rights have been on the ballot for decades, compelling us to register to vote and participate in politics rather than let others decide our rights for us.
"2020 marks the most pro-equality field of Democratic Presidential candidates in U.S. history. Our power has continued to grow and candidates are seeing us increasingly for the critical voting bloc we are and have pursued us vigorously, releasing policy after policy providing more details about their LGBTQ platforms than any other Democratic primary field in history.
"Over the last three years, the Trump-Pence Administration has repeatedly sought to allow discrimination against LGBTQ people in healthcare, housing, public spaces, services and other aspects of life, rescinded protections for transgender students, and banned transgender troops from serving openly in the military.
"The 11 million LGBTQ voters and 57 million Equality Voters -- LGBTQ people and our allies -- are ready to oust the Trump-Pence administration and elect a true ally in the White House. Tonight is only the beginning."
5 p.m. Pacific: Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama have been called for former Vice President Joe Biden. Vermont has been called for Bernie Sanders, who lives in the state and represents it in the U.S. Senate. American Samoa has been called for former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Biden and Sanders have emerged as the front-runners in the Democratic nominating contest after the first four states voted. Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota dropped out of the race in the past two days and endorsed Biden. Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas, who dropped out of the presidential race in November, has also endorsed Biden.
Story developing. Check back through the night for updates.
