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Biden crushes Sanders in Florida and Illinois primaries | |
(32 minutes later) | |
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has steamrolled rival Bernie Sanders in primary elections in Florida and Illinois, US media project. | |
Accelerating his momentum in the race, the former US vice-president led Mr Sanders in both states by wide margins. | |
Arizona was also voting on Tuesday, though its polls have not yet closed. | |
Mr Biden is the favourite to become the Democratic candidate who will face President Donald Trump in November. | Mr Biden is the favourite to become the Democratic candidate who will face President Donald Trump in November. |
The former US vice-president is hoping to build an unassailable lead in the race for the Democratic leadership after scoring victories in 16 of the last 21 state contests. | |
Will Joe Biden's record come back to haunt him? | |
According to opinion polling, most Florida voters said electability was a priority for them. | |
About three in four said Mr Biden would have a better chance of beating Mr Trump, a Republican. Just one in five said the same of Mr Sanders. | |
Older voters were more likely to say they supported Mr Biden. | Older voters were more likely to say they supported Mr Biden. |
Nearly half of Florida's voters said Mr Sanders' stances were too liberal. | Nearly half of Florida's voters said Mr Sanders' stances were too liberal. |
Florida was the biggest prize of the night, awarding 219 of the 1,991 delegates needed to secure the Democratic presidential nomination. | |
Mr Trump won the traditional battleground state by 1.2 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election. | |
Ohio was also due to hold a primary on Tuesday, but it cancelled the vote because of the nationwide coronavirus outbreak. | |
Voters in the three states that did head to polling stations on Tuesday encountered hand sanitiser dispensers and workers in surgical gloves. | |
Several other states have postponed their Democratic presidential primaries, including Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland and Kentucky. | |
The Democratic National Committee has urged the remaining primary states not to postpone their voting. | |
Party grandees are encouraging the states to extend postal and early voting to reduce public exposure to the respiratory illness. | |
Read more on Joe Biden |