Joe Biden wins decisively in Missouri, gets closer to cinching Democratic nomination
Former Vice President Joe Biden cruised to victory in Missouri’s Democratic primary Tuesday, easily besting Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in a state he nearly won four years ago.
The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post all called Missouri for Biden, based on exit polling, shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m. — usually the sign of a big margin of victory.
With around 85% of precincts reporting, Biden held a commanding 60% to 33% lead over Sanders.
“Tonight,” Biden said during his victory speech in Philadelphia, “we are a step closer to restoring decency and honor to the White House.”
The win confirms Biden’s renewed strength coming out of a string of big victories on Super Tuesday, where he surpassed Sanders in both the delegate count and overall popular vote.
The results also illustrate Sanders’ predicament as his path to the nomination narrows. His near-victory in Missouri in 2016 couldn’t carry over to a 2020 contest where Democrats seem solely focused on finding the candidate who can beat President Donald Trump.
“Sen. Sanders started with an advantage only losing by 1,500 votes four years ago, but I think the national tide has swung against him,” said Abe Rakov, a veteran Missouri Democratic consultant who worked for Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign.
Four years ago, Sanders led in Missouri most of the night until the largest counties in the state — Jackson and St. Louis — reported results and gave Hillary Clinton a narrow win.
Biden appears to have replicated Clinton’s appeal in the state’s urban centers, especially among African American voters. Exit polling showed Biden winning 69% of African American voters.
But he also won over white voters Clinton did not. Where Sanders won white voters in 2016 by about 9 points, Biden won Tuesday by 12 points.
“Today, Missourians sent a clear message to the rest of the country: this is the campaign that will send Donald Trump packing,” Biden’s spokeswoman, Meira Bernstein, said in an emailed statement. “According to exit polls and initial data, Joe Biden overwhelmingly won the African American vote. He won voters with advanced degrees. He won in the cities and in rural areas. This is the coalition that can not only win the Democratic nomination, but can propel Democrats to victory this fall.”
Peverill Squire, a political scientist at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said Biden’s Missouri win isn’t surprising. But it is a “pretty strong signal in a state that has both urban areas and pretty big rural contingent that he has a stronger appeal than Sanders.”
He added: “Biden has been around a long time and people are pretty much comfortable with him as a person.”
After stumbling in early contests, Biden has become standard bearer for the more moderate wing of the Democratic Party. A string of endorsements have buoyed his cause, including in Missouri, where he campaigned over the weekend and his wife held events the day before voting began.
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver was an early Biden supporter, but last week he scored endorsements from a litany of Missouri Democratic heavyweights, including the most recent Democratic Govs. Bob Holden and Jay Nixon.
The party’s likely 2020 gubernatorial nominee, state Auditor Nicole Galloway, announced she voted for Biden on Tuesday after declining to endorse a candidate for weeks.
McClatchy’s Bryan Lowry reported from Washington D.C.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 7:17 PM.
