The Associated Press called the Democratic presidential primaries in Colorado and Oklahoma on Tuesday night for socialist Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, respectively.
“In its first presidential primary in 20 years, Colorado saw a last-minute surge of votes among Democrats and independents, who for the first time cast ballots without having to affiliate with either major party,” The AP reported. “More than 1.5 million of Colorado’s 3.4 million voters had cast ballots, the secretary of state’s office said. Unaffiliated voters — the largest voting bloc — made up nearly a third of that total. Most voted in the Democratic primary.”
Dave Wasserman, editor of the non-partisan Cook Political Report, noted that Sanders’ win in Colorado was not as impressive as it looked, writing, “The best state of the night so far for Sanders is Colorado. But the terrible news for him: because Biden, Bloomberg and Warren are all above 15%, his CO delegate haul will be fairly miniscule.”
The best state of the night so far for Sanders is Colorado. But the terrible news for him: because Biden, Bloomberg and Warren are all above 15%, his CO delegate haul will be fairly miniscule.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) March 4, 2020
Biden thumped Sanders in Oklahoma as the race was called almost immediately after polls closed in the state.
“Biden finished with nearly 39% of the vote, capturing a majority of the 37 delegates up for grabs in Oklahoma on Tuesday, while Sanders finished second with more than 25% of the vote, according to complete but unofficial results. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg had about 14% of the vote, with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at about 13%,” The Lexington Herald-Ledger reported. “Sanders had hoped Super Tuesday in Oklahoma would be a repeat of his performance four years ago, when he won the state’s Democratic primary by more than 10 percentage points. Sanders held a rally in Norman and visited a Comanche Nation powwow outside of Lawton in September. His wife, Jane Sanders, visited Tulsa and Tahlequah last week hoping to rally his base just days ahead of the primary.”
Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, campaigned in Oklahoma City earlier on Tuesday where she visited with African-American community leaders.
Biden was widely praised by left-wing media pundits and Democrats who claimed that they have “never seen anybody mount a comeback” like Biden did.
However, Biden’s big night most likely had less to do with anything spectacular that he did and may have a lot more to do with the media’s coverage over the 72-hours leading up to Super Tuesday and the Democratic establish pulling the strings behind the scenes to help boost him over Sanders.
CNN reported that the overwhelming majority of voters who decided over the last few days who they would vote for decided to vote for Biden following his strong win in South Carolina.
Part of that is likely due to the media’s coverage following Biden’s win in which they portrayed him as the best candidate to beat Sanders and portrayed his campaign as having a lot of momentum, despite performing poorly in the first three contests.
Decided in the last few days via @CNN exit polls:
AL: 62% Biden, 13% Sanders
TN: 61% Biden, 16% Sanders
VA: 60% Biden, 17% Sanders
MN: 55% Biden, 21% Sanders
TX: 49% Biden, 21% Sanders
OK: 45% Biden, 17% Sanders
NC: 43% Biden, 22% Sanders
ME: 42% Biden, 19% Sanders— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) March 4, 2020
Biden also benefited from Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg dropping out of the race.
Biden himself said during a victory speech on Tuesday night that Klobuchar dropping out allowed him to win Minnesota.
Biden also picked up an endorsement from Buttigieg after Buttigieg spoke with former President Barack Obama following his exit from the race.
This report has been updated to include additional information.