Here’s what happened in Washington’s primary election
Bernie Sanders had to have a decisive win in Washington’s presidential primary. He didn’t get it.
Former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the winner Monday in the close race, with 574,200 votes to Sanders’ 551,543 with 99% of the vote in.
Sanders needed more last week. By the time Washington’s polls closed, Sanders’ national campaign was in a tailspin. He was crushed in the night’s biggest battle, the fight for Michigan. Biden also won in Missouri, Idaho and Mississippi and opened up a big lead in delegates.
Sanders’ only win, which only became apparent the day after the voting, was the North Dakota caucus.
Washington, the night’s last big prize, was poised to be a Sanders bright spot, a state where the Vermont senator won three of every four of the state’s Democratic convention delegates four years ago and had a strong, active liberal following.
But while results from the Secretary of State showed Sanders and Biden locked in a close race as mail-in ballots came in, Biden was doing well in every part of the state, including King County, regarded as the center of Sanders’ strength, where Biden narrowly beat Sanders.
Sanders’ Washington showing told several stories about what’s to come, not only in Washington but the country. Biden widened his lead in convention delegates, and upcoming primaries have promise for him.
Here’s why:
▪ The math is increasingly going Biden’s way. He has done particularly well in states with big African-American populations and older people.
Tuesday’s biggest prize is Florida, which offers 219 delegates. Biden is up by 36 in Florida, according to a Florida Atlantic University BEPI poll taken March 5 to 7.
Also voting are Ohio, Illinois and Arizona., though officials are trying to delay Ohio’s primary because of the coronavirus outbreak. While Sanders has sizable constituencies in those states, delegates are awarded proportionately, not winner-take-all. That means Sanders needs an overwhelming win or two in those big states.
As of 6:12 P.M. PDT Monday, Biden had 898 convention delegates to Sanders’ 745, according to the Associated Press delegate tracker. Biden has picked up 43 delegates in Washington to Sanders’ 41. It takes 1,991 to get nominated.
▪ Democratic voters sent strong signals a big priority is finding the candidate who can beat President Donald Trump out. Exit polls found that 69% of Washington voters wanted someone who could defeat Trump, the highest percentage recorded in any state that’s voted so far this year.
Half those voters preferred Biden, while 23% saw Sanders as the best choice.
Outside the Pierce County Auditor’s Office in Tacoma, one voter, Michelle Hadley Charles said this election was important because the country under President Donald Trump has become divided. She said she has never seen so much racism in her life.
“I don’t want my kids to know separatism. I want them to know unity. We’re going backwards, not forward,” Hadley-Charles said. “It feels like it’s going one way, and I don’t feel like that’s fair. A president should be about all people, not just be for one.”
Tacoma resident Edwin Nieves said the country cannot stand for four more years of a Trump presidency.
“I’m looking for someone who will tell the truth,” he said. “Every time Trump says something, it’s a slap in the face. We can take care of people by telling the truth.”
Kathy Wolford said she votes every time, because voting is a duty not a right. She, too, is ready for change.
“I want a change for kindness, not the playground bicker,” she said.
▪ Sanders’ supporters will fight on, regardless of Sanders’ fate. There are likely to be platform fights, lobbying for a vice presidential favorite if Biden is the nominee and battles over party rules that could make it easier for the movement to succeed in four years.
“Their plan is to fight for control of the Democratic party. Nothing is going to dampen their resolve until the Democratic convention is over,” said Monisha Harrell, a Seattle-based Democratic strategist who is neutral in the presidential race.
Sanders is also hoping Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachuetts, who suspended her campaign March 5, endorses him. Warren had a loyal constituency that tended to be sympathetic to the sort of liberal politics Sanders practices.
But even a Warren endorsement may not be a big boost. A Reuters-Ipsos poll taken March 6 to 9 found that Biden gained 7 percentage points among Democrats since a poll taken just before Warren left the race. He now had 47% support. Sanders’ backing was steady at 30%.
In 2016, though Hillary Clinton was the presumptive nominee throughout the spring, Sanders kept fighting during the primary and caucus season. He endorsed Clinton in July, two weeks before the convention.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
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