Former US vice president Joe Biden is continuing his strong comeback in the primaries for the Democratic party nomination for president on Super Tuesday, one of the key dates in the process.
Democratic voters in 14 states vote on Super Tuesday to pick their preferred contender for the presidential nomination.
By 9am IST, Biden had won seven of 14 states, while Senator Bernie Sanders had won three. Biden effectively swept the southern states, winning Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina as well as Minnesota and Oklahoma. Sanders won his home state of Vermont, Utah and Colorado.
Biden and Sanders are in close fights in Maine and Massachusetts, the home state of another presidential contender, Senator Elizabeth Warren. However, Warren is having a poor time in Massachusetts.
According to reports, Biden's performance in the southern states was in part due to massive support among black voters, considered a weak point in the Sanders campaign.
However, the conclusive results of Super Tuesday will depend on the voting in the two big states—Texas and California, which close later than other states. Sanders was projected to win California, the largest state in the country. In Texas, Sanders had a five per cent lead over Biden, with 24 per cent of the precincts reporting.
According to the Los Angeles Times, "Under rules established by the Democratic Party, delegates [in each state] were allotted on a percentage basis, based on a candidate’s performance at both the statewide and congressional district levels. In each, candidates needed to meet a 15% threshold of support.”
Bloomberg to reassess campaign
Meanwhile, media mogul and former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is also contesting in Super Tuesday, will reassess his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday, NBC News reported.
Bloomberg has had a poor showing so far, winning only the tiny territory of American Samoa.
Bloomberg had stayed out of the first four primaries and had spent about $500 million in the states voting on Super Tuesday.
