Just moments after the first Super Tuesday polls closed on the east coast, former Vice President Joe Biden has captured the southern state of Virginia while Sen. Bernie Sanders is claiming a first-place in in Vermont, CNN projects.
Biden’s near-immediate win in Virginia, a competitive state in the Tuesday contests, illustrates a decisive victory and is the first indication that Biden’s recent series of late endorsements will propel Biden’s chances to reclaim his frontrunner status lost to Sanders.
On Monday, Biden secured the support of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke after a blow-out 28-point win in South Carolina that helped push Klobuchar and Buttigieg out of the race.
How many of Virginia’s 99 delegates will go to Biden however, remains unclear as no state in the Democratic contest is winner-take-all. The same is true of Vermont, where 16 delegates are at stake. Candidates must garner 15 percent statewide to receive at-large delegates or 15 percent of the vote in congressional districts to gain district-delegates.
To secure the Democratic nomination without risk of a contested convention in Milwaukee, candidates must capture 1,991 of the 3,979 delegates up for grabs. On Tuesday, 1,357 delegates will be decided, more than a third of the total delegates in the contest.
