Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden won the Virginia primary Tuesday, scoring his second victory of the 2020 presidential race and showing his strength in states with large black populations.
It was a bad omen for Sen. Bernard Sanders’ chances in the other southern states and a major blow to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has deep ties to the state after helping bankroll the Democratic takeover of the General Assembly and efforts to enact stricter gun-control laws in the state.
With 39% of the precincts reporting, Mr. Biden captured 55.9% of the vote, followed by Mr. Sanders with 22.4%, billionaire Michael Bloomberg at 9.6% and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 9.5%.
Larry Sabato, head of the Virginia Institute of Politics, said it would be an embarrassment for Mr. Bloomberg if he fails to collect 15% of the vote in Virginia.
“After Bloomberg’s massive sums in VA—mainly for TV ads that you couldn’t avoid no matter what you watched—it’s an embarrassment not to get over 15% statewide,” Mr. Sabato said on Twitter. “A hint to say bye-bye?”
News networks called the Virginia race for Mr. Biden as soon as the polls closed at 7 p.m.
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The candidates were battling it out for the state’s 99 pledged delegates. Mr. Biden recently received endorsements from Sen. Tim Kaine and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Mr. Biden is hoping to stay competitive across the 14 Super Tuesday states and keep the momentum going from his landslide victory over the weekend in South Carolina, where black voters comprised 55% of black voters.
Exit polls showed that about a quarter of the Virginia electorate was black and that 4 in 10 voters made up their minds before voting began in February.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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