- MMMomentum – Joe Biden continued to ride the wave of momentum he picked on Super Tuesday with wins in the early-M states of Mississippi, Missouri, and Michigan (more on that in a minute). The win in Mississippi, with its large African-American population the most lopsided of the night, while the win in Missouri was driven by strong numbers for Biden in the suburbs of Kansas City and St. Louis.
- Michigan – In 2016, Bernie Sanders shocked Hillary Clinton by winning Michigan by a little more than 1%. On Tuesday, Joe Biden had the upper hand, winning the state and the majority of the delegates. The win is Biden’s second in the rust belt and portends a strength in the area ahead of Ohio and Illinois, which will vote next Tuesday.
- Florida, Florida, Florida – Florida votes next Tuesday and could deliver a knock-out punch to Bernie Sanders’ campaign. The state’s 248 delegates will be divided proportionally, however, recent polling shows Sanders in the mid-teens. If he is blown out in Florida, Joe Biden’s already large delegate lead may be too much for Sanders to overcome.
- Viral changes – Both campaigns had planned events for Tuesday night. Both campaigns canceled their events amid concerns over crowds and the spread of the coronavirus. It’s unclear how much the virus will impact the upcoming campaign schedule, however, as more cases are reported nationwide, the campaigns are keeping a close eye.
- Arizona debate – Sanders and Biden are scheduled to meet Sunday in Phoenix for a two-man debate. The debate will not have a live audience out of an abundance of caution. The DNC made the announcement late Tuesday. Arizona is currently testing 30-people for possible coronavirus.
- More Michigan – Turnout for the Michigan Democratic primary is expected to be half a million votes larger than it was in 2016, and almost 300,000 more than it was in 2008. The trend in Michigan mirrors other turnout trends for the Democrats in 2020 with higher turnout in Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas.
- Mississippi - A CNN exit poll of Mississippi showed Biden winning 84% of the African-American vote and Sanders winning just 13%. An ABC News exit poll showed Biden leading among African Americans 86% - 11%. These numbers continue to show Biden’s strong support within the African-American community.
- Waiting on Washington – Washington is a vote-by-mail state and could take some time to tun in final results (remember California last week? California is still counting mail ballots). Washington is one of the states where Sanders was hoping for a win. However, the margins in the early states will more than erase any delegate gains out west.
- North Dakota and Idaho – They also voted. There were no polls out of North Dakota. The state in 2016 used a caucus system, with Sanders defeating Clinton. However, for 2020 North Dakota switched to a primary a trend that could help Biden. As for Idaho, it also used a caucus in 2016 but made the switch to a primary for 2020.
© 2020 Cox Media Group
