How winning California keeps Bernie Sanders competitive
Joe Biden's presidential campaign came to life on Super Tuesday, with the former vice president winning the majority of the 14 states at stake.
The results transformed a wide-open race crowded with candidates into a two-man battle between moderate Biden and the self-described democratic socialist, Bernie Sanders.
While the night wasn't what Sanders' supporters hoped it would be, his campaign was bolstered by a late victory in delegate-rich California, the most populous state in the country.
With 93% of precincts reporting, Sanders controlled one-third of the California vote, a lead large enough for the Associated Press to project him as the ultimate winner.
% of popular vote
There are still many more votes to be counted, but an analysis of what's been tallied so far shows Sanders in the lead in nearly every county in the Golden State.
Sanders racked up big margins in the Central Valley and California's largest cities, winning over areas he lost to Hillary Clinton when they faced off four years ago.
2016 primary
Clinton
Sanders
Sacramento
Counties Sanders lost to Clinton.
San
Francisco
Fresno
Los Angeles
San Diego
2020 primary
Biden
Sanders
Sanders won 34 of the 38 counties he lost last time.
The result is that Sanders has won 155 of the state's 271 delegates that have been awarded so far, the largest haul any candidate earned from a single state this Super Tuesday.
The delegate counts from Tuesday are still far from final, but the tallies so far show Biden claiming the overall lead for the first time. But with 144 California delegates still to be apportioned, Sanders can hope that he can cut into the deficit as late and provisional ballots are tallied in the coming weeks.
It's unclear if the boost from his California win will add up with other states to be enough for him to reach the 1,991 delegates needed for the nomination, but for now, thanks to California, the delegate race remains neck and neck.
