Heading into Super Tuesday last week, the question was whether Biden would have momentum after South Carolina and if the dropping out of Buttigieg and Klobuchar would significantly help him. A week later the question is whether Sanders will remain in this race going forward. It was another big night for Joe Biden winning four of the six states including Michigan, which went for Bernie over Hillary four years ago.
Biden won Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, and Missouri. While Sanders leads in North Dakota and Washington.
As of this entry, the North Dakota caucus and Washington primary have yet to be called, though Sanders does have the edge in both. This isn’t just about winning states though. It’s all about delegates and one of the key storylines is whether Biden would be able to win by large enough margins to get on pace with winning the needed 1990 pledged delegates required to avoid a contested convention. Here’s where we stand as of now:
- Biden: 820
- Sanders: 664
- Gabbard: 2
What’s interesting is that as of this entry, with additional delegates yet to be allocated from Tuesday’s states, Biden is still not quite on pace to win the nomination. He’s pacing 49.6% of the pledged delegates available. At this pace, he’d still fall 15 pledged delegates short of winning without a contested convention. This is an improvement from his prior pacing but still not quite where he needs to be. It was a good night for him sure, and he remains the leader and momentum candidate but there’s still work to do for Joe unless Bernie decides to pack it in.
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