Looking Back at Super Tuesday I

Now that the dust has settled on last week’s Super Tuesday primary, we can return to watching Youtube videos without the saturation of Michael Bloomberg ads, but enjoy the respite because the general is coming–and neither Shaq nor Snoop Dogg will be driving.

In just under a week and a half, the state of the Democratic race has drastically changed. Former Vice President Joseph Biden, a candidate whose campaign was largely on life support before the South Carolina Primary, was breathed new life by voters in 14 states. 

Of the 14 contests, former Vice President Joseph Biden carried 10 states in the south, northeast, and Texas. Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT), carried California, Utah, Colorado, and his home state Vermont. 

Both Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg dropped out, following lackluster performances. 

Bloomberg won an average of about 8% to 16% per state, but was largely bested by Sanders and Biden. His highest performance came in Colorado, where he won 20.5% of the vote. In California, Bloomberg won 22% of the Asian vote, just 7% behind Sanders, but ahead of both Biden and Warren. 

Warren’s best performance was delivered by her home state, Massachusetts, where she won 21.4% of the vote, but still trailed Biden by 12.2% and Sanders by 5.3%. 

For the most part, Biden and Sanders largely were supposed by the same voting coalitions. Sanders remains favored by voters under age 40 and among Latinos. Biden is still favored by African American and more aged voters. 

The results in North Carolina, a state demographically similar to South Carolina, were almost mirror image. Biden outpaced Sanders 62 to 17 among African American votes. In Texas, a state that is about 12% African American, he received 58% of their votes, according to Exit Polls.

In California, one of four states he won, Sanders was favored by Latino voters by 34% or 55% to Biden’s 21%. Likewise in Texas, Sanders scored another sizable Latino turnout, defeating Biden by 21%. 

As the race shifts to another round of Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses, the focus will be on the former Vice President to determine if he can build out a coalition of supporters, beyond African Americans who have kept his presidential hopes alive. Conversely, Senator Sanders will have to find a way to turnout young voters, who are the hinge of his coalition. 

This Tuesday, voters in Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Washington and Idaho join caucusgoers in North Dakota to have their say in the Democratic presidential nomination. 

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