Joe Biden won victories in four states in the latest crucial round of voting during the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.
The former vice president and current front-runner entered Tuesday's elections after skyrocketing in polls across the country — projections showed him winning in virtually every state on the map on 10 March. Those states include North Dakota, Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, and Washington.
He ultimately won in Michigan, a state that Bernie Sanders narrowly won in 2016 against Hillary Clinton. In 2020, the state emerged as a battleground for black and white blue-collar voters as well as suburban moderates.
In the South, Mr Biden continued his winning campaign with older black voters.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on Mr Sanders as his campaign seemingly hangs in the balance.
Late-reporting states North Dakota and Washington will likely give Mr Sanders a share of their small delegate pool, though Mr Biden is projected to win in Idaho.
The senator's supporters were hoping to see some upsets, or at least cobble together enough delegates to keep his campaign viable in the race, while Mr Biden carries the delegate lead as the two men prepare for a one-on-one debate on Sunday followed by more primary elections, with voters in half the US still unaccounted for.
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The Mayor of Kansas City, Quinton Lucas, was up before the dawn on Tuesday morning, making a video for his constituents about the importance of voting in the 2020 election.
“Get out and get out to vote, exercise your right to vote. We’ve got a presidential primary today in Missouri, no matter who you vote for, no matter which side, it’s important that we have our voices heard,” he said.
Then, when he went to have his own voice heard, he was turned away at the poll.
“I made a video this morning about the importance of voting and then got turned away because I wasn’t in the system even though I’ve voted there for 11 years, including for myself four times! Go figure, but that’s ok. We’ll be back later today,” he wrote in a tweet.
Barack Obama has called for voters to protect his landmark healthcare reform in a video to mark ten years since it was passed, but is still holding out on endorsing a candidate in the Democratic primary race.
“With your help, it's the closest we’ve ever come to universal coverage in America,” he said of the Affordable Care Act, in a clip released Monday by the liberal advocacy group Protect Our Care. “There are people alive today because of what you did.”
“Republicans will keep trying both in Congress and in the courts to rip away the care that millions of Americans rely on,” he added.
It was a rare return to the spotlight for the former president, coming on the same day that voters in six states take part in primaries to choose the Democratic nominee to face Donald Trump in November.
But despite praising his administration’s crowning legislative achievement, Mr Obama has still yet to endorse his former vice president Joe Biden — who has frequently touted his role in passing the reforms, and has campaigned on building on them.
- Washington – 11 p.m. EST
- Michigan – 9 p.m.; 8 p.m. in counties
- Missouri – 8 p.m. ET
- Mississippi – 8 p.m. ET
- Idaho – 11 p.m. ET
- North Dakota – 8 p.m. ET
A group of nearly 40 staffers who worked for Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign has endorsed Bernie Sanders in an open letter, calling on their supporters to "persist together" in the battle for the White House.
In a letter published to Medium on Tuesday titled “Team Warren for Bernie Sanders”, the group of organisers and campaign directors stated their goals included working “to consolidate those who are ready to jump from Warren to Sanders immediately and build a community to facilitate the transition”.
The campaign staffers also said they wanted to reach out to Ms Warren’s supporters and urged them to support the Vermont senator in his bid against former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination.
Those new forms of outreach, the letter stated, would use the foundation built by Ms Warren’s campaign and “the grassroots networks that we have cultivated” throughout the Democratic primaries.
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