Joe Biden crushed Bernie Sanders in Michigan, which could be the beginning of the end for the Vermont senator
Business Insider
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Former Vice President Joe Biden dominated Bernie Sanders in Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary in Michigan, delivering a potentially fatal blow to the Vermont senator's campaign.
Michigan had 125 delegates on the table, so winning there gives Biden a huge lead over Sanders after a successful Super Tuesday.
Losing in Michigan is also a symbolic defeat for Sanders, who won a narrow, stunning victory over Hillary Clinton in the Midwestern state four years ago.
Former Vice President Joe Biden wiped the floor with Sen. Bernie Sanders in Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary in Michigan, which could spell the end of the Vermont senator's campaign.
With over 1.5 million votes counted, Biden led Sanders by roughly 17 percentage points. It's a huge victory in a state Sanders narrowly won four years ago. In short, it was a rout.
After underwhelming results on Super Tuesday, which saw Biden gain a sizable lead in delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination, Sanders really needed a victory in the Midwestern state.
Biden is now heading into a series of crucial primaries next Tuesday with all of the momentum. The former vice president also dominated Sanders in Missouri and Mississippi on Tuesday.
Michigan had the most delegates up for grabs (125) out of the half dozen states that held voting contests on Tuesday. Winning there would've given Sanders a major boost, particularly with two neighboring states (Ohio and Illinois) holding elections next week.
Sanders won a narrow, stunning victory over Hillary Clinton in Michigan in 2016. It was a defining moment for his underdog campaign. Michigan has many of the blue-collar workers Sanders has pegged himself as the champion of for years. Losing there not only hurts Sanders mathematically, but it's also a massive symbolic defeat.
Candidates need 1,991 pledged delegates to win the 2020 nomination. There are 577 delegates on the table on March 17 in four contests:
Arizona: 67 pledged delegates
Florida: 219 pledged delegates
Illinois: 155 pledged delegates
Ohio: 136 pledged delegates
Biden has a double-digit lead over Sanders in every state holding an election next Tuesday, according to FiveThirtyEight's average of recent polling. Barring any major surprises, Biden could be the presumptive Democratic nominee by next week. Michigan could've been a turning point for Sanders, but instead it dealt a potentially fatal blow to his 2020 campaign.
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