Joe Biden Wallops Bernie Sanders in Florida Primary
Richard Moorhead
|
Joe Biden is handily defeating Bernie Sanders in the Florida Democratic Primary as of Tuesday night, taking over 60% of the popular vote in the state with more than half of results accounted for.
Biden had been expected to cruise to an easy win in the primary, in which an electorate with a large share of older and black voters are participating.
Illinois and Arizona are also voting today, after a controversy in which many concerned citizens called for the states to postpone their primaries to advert spread of the Chinese coronavirus.
Concerns about the disease appear to have dampened turnout in Florida, where one Orlando-area source described a turnout of 20% of eligible voters coming out to vote.
Florida has 248 delegates, the fourth-most of any state in the country.
The states declined to postpone the contests, and Democratic National Convention chair Tom Perez has warned that states that do postpone could face possible delegate ramifications at the convention. Apparently keeping things going as usual is of greater importance to the Democratic Party than concerns over the virus.
Polls have Biden leading safely in all three of the medium-to-large states to vote on Super Tuesday III. The former Vice President drew criticism by encouraging his supporters to turn out and vote for him in spite of the coronavirus epidemic.
If Bernie Sanders fails to win Arizona, it’s probably safe to say that the Democratic Primary is effectively over.
Share: