Bernie Sanders Projected To Win California Super Tuesday

The polls in the golden state of California closed at 11 p.m ET on Tuesday, with various outlets currently projecting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as the victor. With 415 delegates at stake, the socialist senator from Vermont’s victory will gain the needed boost after former Vice President Joe Biden swept several key eastern and southern states.

According to the Associated Press, as of this writing, Bernie Sanders stands in first place with 27.3% of the vote with just 7% of precincts reporting – 142,553 votes in total. Trailing Sanders in second place is former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg at 19.3% – 100,634 votes. Former Vice President Joe Biden stands in third place with just 17.4% – 91,159.

The socialist senator from Vermont’s projected victory comes as no surprise, given that he spent massive sums of money in the state while Joe Biden spent very little. From the Associated Press:

California has the largest delegate haul of the night — 415.

Bernie Sanders spent about $7 million on ads in the state (of the $15.5 million he spent across Super Tuesday states), according to data as of Feb. 27 from Advertising Analytics and provided to NPR.

Joe Biden spent nothing on California TV ads and just $4,000 on digital ads. Mike Bloomberg, in contrast, spent more than $71 million and polled below the 15% threshold required to get any delegates in all of these contests.

BREAKING: Bernie Sanders is projected to win the California primary, according to the AP. #SuperTuesdayResults https://t.co/IctpSpzGYF pic.twitter.com/rOZpfRbN4G

— NPR (@NPR) March 4, 2020

As noted by Vox, California’s position in the primary has significantly increased in recent years after having typically taken place in June, usually after a nominee had been chosen.

Though Bernie is the projected winner, the suspense now is exactly how many delegates he will pick up the state versus Joe Biden. If he does perform strongly in California and in Texas, Sanders and Biden will be virtually tied in the fight to win the nomination.

UPDATE: With 12% of precincts reporting, Bernie Sanders still holds a commanding lead at 28.7% – 429,744 votes; Mike Bloomberg at 18.8% – 281,700; Joe Biden at 17.2% – 257,301 votes.