Super Tuesday 2020: Sanders Wins Prized California Primary As Biden Surges Nationwide

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Super Tuesday seemed to turn into a two-man battle between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders early in the night, despite five candidates vying for delegates from 14 states and one U.S. territory.

About one-third (1,344) of all delegates were up for grabs and it takes 1,991 pledged delegates to win the nomination.

Biden saw a surge of support Tuesday after gaining endorsements from Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Monday night.

RELATED: What You Need To Know On Super Tuesday

Early in the night, Biden scored a series of wins taking Alabama, Oklahoma and the battleground states of North Carolina and Virginia. CBS News then projected the former Vice President to win the Tennessee primary and the Associated Press projected him to win Minnesota and Arkansas. He also took Massachusetts, upsetting Sen. Elizabeth Warren in her home state.

It is increasingly looking like a two-man race between @JoeBiden and @BernieSanders. @LeeMiringoff of @maristpoll reflects on what we learned tonight about the race for the Democratic nomination with @KevRincon and @SteveScottNEWS. #SuperTuesday https://t.co/gmdL8Ckq8n pic.twitter.com/mwh8OanUqx

— WCBS 880 (@wcbs880) March 4, 2020

Meanwhile, Sanders claimed the biggest Super Tuesday prize with the Associated Press projecting he would take California, which has 415 delegates up for grabs. Sanders also pulled off an expected home-state win in Vermont and took another victory in Colorado, which has 67 delegates at stake, as well as Utah.

Bernie Sanders tells supporters in Vermont: "Tonight, I tell you with absolute confidence, we are going to win the Democratic nomination and we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of this country" https://t.co/dejxP1swQq pic.twitter.com/5J8h5dXuFa

— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 4, 2020

About 1.3 million people voted in the Virginia Primary today whereas 780,000 people voted in the 2016 Democratic Primary. That’s a drastic contrast in voter enthusiasm. @JoeBiden easily wins The Old Dominion State. #SuperTuesday @KevRincon @SteveScottNEWS @peterhaskell880 https://t.co/AdjFrxBbb1

— Neil A. Carousso (@NeilACarousso) March 4, 2020

Maine and Texas were too close to call after midnight, with Biden holding a slim lead in Maine (about 2,000 votes) and a growing lead in Texas (about 25,000 votes).

Votes were still being called early Wednesday, but the Associated Press allocated 362 delegates to Biden, 285 to Sanders, 30 to Bloomberg, 20 to Warren and one for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, appeared on the ballots for the first time on Super Tuesday, but saw a poor performance overall.

How is @MikeBloomberg's #SuperTuesday investment? @peterhaskell880 explores as the former New York City mayor was declared the winner of the American Samoa caucuses.

Tune into our special coverage anchored by @KevRincon and @SteveScottNEWS: https://t.co/gmdL8CC1wX. pic.twitter.com/fTQ6HSEhMM

— WCBS 880 (@wcbs880) March 4, 2020

While he took at least five delegates from American Samoa, according to the Associated Press, the former New York City mayor will reassess whether he will continue his bid for president on Wednesday.

Hawaii Sen. Tulsi Gabbard remains in the race but has not reached double-digits – nor has any other candidate that has since dropped out.

California poll numbers suggest Sanders also has the most support among potential voters with 35%. He is followed by Warren at 14%, Biden at 13% and Bloomberg at 12% support.

Despite struggling in the polls, Warren vowed to remain in the race. Early results showed her polling in third in her home state, and that could be a bad look for her campaign.

“Symbolically it’s bad. It hurts her narrative. The question then is if you can’t win in your home state where can you win?” CBS News reporter Zak Hudak told WCBS 880. “It’s embarrassing for her if that happens. Does it threaten her Senate seat in the future? I don’t know, maybe? At the very least it’s really embarrassing and it kind of creates this mentality of her own people, her own constituents, don’t want her to be president.”

Neil A. Carousso is the 2020 Elections Producer for WCBS Newsradio 880, producing all multi-media content of WCBS’ Election Night special coverage.