Joe Biden (Mark Wilson/Getty), Pete Buttigieg (Scott Olson/Getty) and Bernie Sanders (Sean Rayford/Getty)
Joe Biden surged ahead in the Democratic presidential race on Super Tuesday after he gained crucial endorsements from former moderate rivals Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar.
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana announced that he was pulling out of the Democratic race on Sunday night and endorsed Biden the next day.
The centrist former vice-president is now looking more likely than ever to become the Democratic nominee for the presidency after he stormed ahead on Super Tuesday, a crucial day in which the largest number of states holds caucuses and primaries.
While counting is still underway, it looks likely that the Democratic race is now narrowing to just two candidates, with Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders taking a firm lead.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are now the frontrunners in the Democratic race as Super Tuesday results roll in.
Billionaire Mike Bloomberg suffered a humiliating defeat on Super Tuesday and is now said to be reassessing his campaign.
Meanwhile, Senator Elizabeth Warren is facing increased pressure to pull out of the Democratic race after she finished in fourth place on Super Tuesday, and even lost her own state, Massachusetts. Some Democrats are calling on Warren to quit the race as they say she is splitting the progressive vote.
On Wednesday morning, Biden was either on course to win, or had already claimed victories, in Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Meanwhile, Sanders claimed California – which has the most delegates – as well as Colorado, Utah and his own state Vermont.
Make no mistake about it, this campaign will send Donald Trump packing.
However, Super Tuesday is not so much about the number of states won by candidates than it is about the number of delegates. Sanders claimed a major victory by winning the most delegates in California. He was projected to win in Texas, the state with the second biggest number of delegates, but looked set to lose to Biden on Wednesday morning.
The results show a Democratic race that is in a constant state of flux. Just weeks ago, Biden’s campaign was considered to be in freefall as he struggled to gain any momentum. He now looks like the most likely candidate to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency.
Sanders has proven popular with younger voters as well as the Latinx community while Biden has shown a commanding lead among Black Americans.
Biden: ‘This campaign will send Donald Trump packing’.
“Folks, things are looking awful good,” Biden told a crowd in Los Angeles as Super Tuesday counting continued.
“For those that have been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign,” he added, according to CNN.
“Just a few days ago the press and the pundits declared the campaign dead. It’s looking good, so I’m here to report we are very much alive. And make no mistake about it, this campaign will send Donald Trump packing.”
Meanwhile, Sanders told a crowd in his home state of Vermont: “Tonight I tell you with absolute confidence we are going to win the Democratic nomination and we are going to defeat the most dangerous President in the history of this country.”
Warren seemed unlikely to bow out, despite her poor showing as votes roll in. Speaking yesterday, she declared: “I am in this fight.”
“It’s about the fight, but it’s also about the hope. It’s about what we will be able to do together. So that’s why I’m here,” she said.