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| Super Tuesday: crucial vote under way as Democrats battle for nomination | Super Tuesday: crucial vote under way as Democrats battle for nomination |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Bernie Sanders holds narrow lead in delegate count as Joe Biden emboldened by endorsements from rivals | Bernie Sanders holds narrow lead in delegate count as Joe Biden emboldened by endorsements from rivals |
| Super Tuesday – the most consequential voting day of the Democratic presidential primary race – is under way, with millions of voters across the US set to cast their ballot for the candidate they want to see take on Donald Trump in the November election. | Super Tuesday – the most consequential voting day of the Democratic presidential primary race – is under way, with millions of voters across the US set to cast their ballot for the candidate they want to see take on Donald Trump in the November election. |
| The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders currently holds a narrow lead in the delegate count, but Joe Biden heads into the crucial test emboldened by endorsements from two of his former moderate rivals – Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg – who both dropped out of the race in recent days and voiced their support for the former vice-president. | The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders currently holds a narrow lead in the delegate count, but Joe Biden heads into the crucial test emboldened by endorsements from two of his former moderate rivals – Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg – who both dropped out of the race in recent days and voiced their support for the former vice-president. |
| “I couldn’t think of a better way to end my campaign than joining his,” Klobuchar said on Monday night, as she urged the Democratic party to unite around Biden. | |
| “We need to unite our party and our country and to do it not just with our words, but with our actions,” she said. | |
| This will be the first test for the billionaire former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who skipped the early voting states and poured millions of dollars into a campaign that has focused on Super Tuesday. | This will be the first test for the billionaire former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who skipped the early voting states and poured millions of dollars into a campaign that has focused on Super Tuesday. |
| Fourteen states, from California to Virginia, and Arkansas to Massachusetts, are holding caucuses or primaries as the race moves from a series of intimate, single-day contests to something more akin to a national vote. By the time polls close on the west coast at 11pm ET, nearly 40% of the total delegates to the party’s convention will have been awarded. | Fourteen states, from California to Virginia, and Arkansas to Massachusetts, are holding caucuses or primaries as the race moves from a series of intimate, single-day contests to something more akin to a national vote. By the time polls close on the west coast at 11pm ET, nearly 40% of the total delegates to the party’s convention will have been awarded. |
| That means Super Tuesday has the potential to clarify a dramatically unsettled race. But it is still unclear whether any candidate will establish a controlling advantage. If that happens, it would pave the way toward a contested convention, the likes of which the party has not seen since 1952. | That means Super Tuesday has the potential to clarify a dramatically unsettled race. But it is still unclear whether any candidate will establish a controlling advantage. If that happens, it would pave the way toward a contested convention, the likes of which the party has not seen since 1952. |
| Biden’s commanding victory in South Carolina on Saturday revived his flagging campaign and positioned him as the leading moderate contender to take on Sanders, a Democratic socialist who is the most progressive of the candidates. Yet Sanders remains powerfully positioned to expand his narrow delegate lead following strong showings in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. | Biden’s commanding victory in South Carolina on Saturday revived his flagging campaign and positioned him as the leading moderate contender to take on Sanders, a Democratic socialist who is the most progressive of the candidates. Yet Sanders remains powerfully positioned to expand his narrow delegate lead following strong showings in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. |
| But Bloomberg remains something of a wildcard. The field of major Democratic candidates – which reached more than two dozen at its height last year – has narrowed to five people, including Biden, Sanders, Bloomberg, the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren and the long-shot Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. | But Bloomberg remains something of a wildcard. The field of major Democratic candidates – which reached more than two dozen at its height last year – has narrowed to five people, including Biden, Sanders, Bloomberg, the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren and the long-shot Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. |
| There has been a stream of candidate dropouts in recent days. Klobuchar quit the race on Monday. The California billionaire Tom Steyer dropped out on Saturday, having spent hundreds of millions of dollars on his campaign to win just two delegates. | There has been a stream of candidate dropouts in recent days. Klobuchar quit the race on Monday. The California billionaire Tom Steyer dropped out on Saturday, having spent hundreds of millions of dollars on his campaign to win just two delegates. |
| And on Sunday, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg – a moderate and relative political unknown who managed a strong showing in the early voting states – ended his campaign, with a warning against a Sanders-style politics, though he did not invoke the senator’s name. | And on Sunday, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg – a moderate and relative political unknown who managed a strong showing in the early voting states – ended his campaign, with a warning against a Sanders-style politics, though he did not invoke the senator’s name. |
| “We need leadership to heal a divided nation, not drive us further apart,” said Buttigieg, who endorsed Biden on Monday. “We need a broad-based agenda that can truly deliver for the American people, not one that gets lost in ideology.” | “We need leadership to heal a divided nation, not drive us further apart,” said Buttigieg, who endorsed Biden on Monday. “We need a broad-based agenda that can truly deliver for the American people, not one that gets lost in ideology.” |
| Sanders, who raised a staggering $46m in February alone, has benefited from a fractured opposition. While Biden, Bloomberg, Klobuchar and, to a lesser degree, Warren, compete for overlapping shares of the Democratic electorate, Sanders has edged past by consolidating support among the party’s left wing. | Sanders, who raised a staggering $46m in February alone, has benefited from a fractured opposition. While Biden, Bloomberg, Klobuchar and, to a lesser degree, Warren, compete for overlapping shares of the Democratic electorate, Sanders has edged past by consolidating support among the party’s left wing. |
| Democratic leaders and officials are increasingly worried that a splintered result on Super Tuesday will pave the way for Sanders’s nomination. | Democratic leaders and officials are increasingly worried that a splintered result on Super Tuesday will pave the way for Sanders’s nomination. |
| “You’re making them really nervous,” Sanders said at a rally that drew more than 15,000 people in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. “They’re getting quite upset.” | “You’re making them really nervous,” Sanders said at a rally that drew more than 15,000 people in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. “They’re getting quite upset.” |
| Propelled by young voters and Latinos, Sanders holds a commanding lead in California and Texas, according to new surveys published before the South Carolina primary. They are the two states with the highest number of delegates to award on Tuesday. | Propelled by young voters and Latinos, Sanders holds a commanding lead in California and Texas, according to new surveys published before the South Carolina primary. They are the two states with the highest number of delegates to award on Tuesday. |
| If Sanders opens a wide lead, it could become mathematically difficult for his rivals to catch him. | If Sanders opens a wide lead, it could become mathematically difficult for his rivals to catch him. |
| But Biden hopes the momentum from his decisive victory in South Carolina will carry him into states with large African American electorates, like Alabama, Arkansas and Virginia, where he has been boosted by a slate of new endorsements from national lawmakers and local leaders. | But Biden hopes the momentum from his decisive victory in South Carolina will carry him into states with large African American electorates, like Alabama, Arkansas and Virginia, where he has been boosted by a slate of new endorsements from national lawmakers and local leaders. |
| “We have the option of winning big or losing big,” Biden said in Columbia on Saturday. “That’s the choice.” | “We have the option of winning big or losing big,” Biden said in Columbia on Saturday. “That’s the choice.” |
| Perhaps no candidate stands to lose more on Super Tuesday than Bloomberg. His support has more than doubled since his late entry in November, but recent polling suggests he has lost ground after a widely criticized debate performance last month, during which he came under attack for his past comments on women and people of color. | Perhaps no candidate stands to lose more on Super Tuesday than Bloomberg. His support has more than doubled since his late entry in November, but recent polling suggests he has lost ground after a widely criticized debate performance last month, during which he came under attack for his past comments on women and people of color. |
| “Mike is the only candidate to campaign in all 14 Super Tuesday states over the last two months and we look forward to Tuesday,” Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, said in a statement. “Mike’s record of successfully leading and managing through crises and challenges is exactly what Americans are looking for in a new president.” | “Mike is the only candidate to campaign in all 14 Super Tuesday states over the last two months and we look forward to Tuesday,” Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, said in a statement. “Mike’s record of successfully leading and managing through crises and challenges is exactly what Americans are looking for in a new president.” |
| Democrats award delegates proportionally, dividing the spoils between any candidate who reaches a 15% threshold in a state or its congressional districts. If the result is split in delegate-rich states like California and Texas, Democrats expect a drawn-out primary race that could last all the way to the party’s convention in Milwaukee in July. | Democrats award delegates proportionally, dividing the spoils between any candidate who reaches a 15% threshold in a state or its congressional districts. If the result is split in delegate-rich states like California and Texas, Democrats expect a drawn-out primary race that could last all the way to the party’s convention in Milwaukee in July. |
| Warren faces an uphill battle on Tuesday after a string of disappointing finishes. Her campaign manager, Roger Lau, outlined in a memo released on Sunday how the Massachusetts senator could still win the Democratic nomination. | Warren faces an uphill battle on Tuesday after a string of disappointing finishes. Her campaign manager, Roger Lau, outlined in a memo released on Sunday how the Massachusetts senator could still win the Democratic nomination. |
| Lau argued that no candidate is likely to accumulate enough delegates to win the nomination outright. He touted as signs of strength the campaign’s biggest fundraising totals to date, increased ad spending in critical states and an expected delegate pickup on Super Tuesday from “nearly every state”. | Lau argued that no candidate is likely to accumulate enough delegates to win the nomination outright. He touted as signs of strength the campaign’s biggest fundraising totals to date, increased ad spending in critical states and an expected delegate pickup on Super Tuesday from “nearly every state”. |
| “We’re in this race for the long haul,” he wrote, adding: “In the road to the nomination, the Wisconsin primary is halftime, and the convention in Milwaukee is the final play.” | “We’re in this race for the long haul,” he wrote, adding: “In the road to the nomination, the Wisconsin primary is halftime, and the convention in Milwaukee is the final play.” |
| Additional reporting: Oliver Laughland in Dallas |