Former Vice President Joe Biden tightened his grip on the Democratic presidential nomination by defeating Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in Illinois with the help of African-American voters, women and voters over 45.
Biden led Sanders with 59.1% to 36.1% with 69% of the precincts reporting.
It was an unprecedented Election Day in Illinois — with delayed results, missing election judges, dwindling supplies of hand sanitizer and bickering over whether the state should even hold its primary during a global health pandemic.
Speaking in an address from his Delaware home, Biden said he had a “very good night” in Illinois and Florida and said he was “a little closer to securing the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.”
He also had a message for Sanders’ supporters: “I hear you. I know what’s at stake. I know what we have to do,” Biden said.
“Our goal as a campaign, and my goal as a candidate for president is to unify this party, then to unify the nation,” he said.
Biden performed very well with women voters, older voters and African-American voters, according to CNN exit polls. Biden took 70% of the African-American vote, compared to Sanders at just 27%. Among women, Biden had 65% to Sanders’ 30%.
Sanders performed well, unsurprisingly, with voters aged 17-44 — 63% compared to Biden at 17%, the CNN exit poll found. Biden took 78% of the vote among voters 45 and older, the polls found.
The race was a bit closer in Chicago. With 71% precincts reporting, Chicago Board of Elections reported Biden at 50.28% to Sanders with 45.69%. In Cook County with 80 percent precincts reporting, Biden led Sanders 62.38% to 33.12%.
With historically low Election Day turnout in Chicago — Biden was relying on a record number of early voters and those who voted by mail. Illinois, Florida and Arizona — with their combined 441 delegates at stake — held their primaries on Tuesday, despite the coronavirus outbreak wreaking havoc on the nation. In Illinois, there are 155 pledged delegates at stake.
Biden, Sanders and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard were the only ones left in the race, but Illinois voters had a dizzying 13 presidential candidates on their mail-in, early voting and Election Day ballots. Most candidates dropped out of the race in early March, as Biden and Sanders continued to gain delegates throughout the nation.
But the tide turned when Biden won nine states on March 3 — the most important voting day in the Democratic party — and Democratic moderates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar quickly dropped out. With Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg also out, all eyes were on the former vice president and the democratic socialist and the competing factions of the Democratic party they were fighting for.
Sanders lost Illinois in 2016 by a tiny margin — just 2 percentage points — to Hillary Clinton. He was boosted by a Chicago rally on the eve of the election, the likes of which packed a downtown theater with many young, progressive voters.
Although Sanders and Biden met in their first one-on-one debate on Sunday night, the two candidates were forced to cancel events in Illinois in the waning days of the election. That meant no last-minute in-person rallies — and not even campaigners knocking on doors as wary voters hunkered down inside their homes. Most voter contact over the weekend for both campaigns was via apps, calls, texts and emails.
Sanders on Tuesday evening took to a virtual event to talk about the need to ensure that any coronavirus medical care be affordable for low-income families.
Biden on Friday hosted a virtual event, instead of planned fundraisers and a public rally. Sanders came out to Chicago on Saturday, March 7 to host a rally — just before the coronavirus spread led to closures across the state.
Sanders was backed by the Chicago Teachers Union and Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Ill., the most prominent Illinois elected official backing him.
Biden had the heavy endorsements of Mayor Lori Lightfoot and three African American members of Congress from Illinois — Rush and Reps. Danny Davis and Robin Kelly, whose districts have the highest concentration of black voters in the state.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday — who was a major Hillary Clinton backer – also endorsed Biden for president. The billionaire entrepreneur and businessman turned governor had repeatedly vowed to stay out of the primary. But by Sunday, his political team said Pritzker would endorse, in part, to ensure Illinois voters still went out to the polls.
