Florida, Illinois, and Arizona will hold primary elections tonight as former Vice President Joe Biden tries to solidify his delegate lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Ohio postponed its primary after Health Director Dr. Amy Action ordered the state’s polls due to a health emergency after a court denied Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s request to postpone its primary until June 2.
Most polls in Florida (219 delegates) will close at 7 PM ET with the rest closing at 8 PM ET. Polls in Illinois (155) close at 8 PM ET. Polls in Arizona (67) close at 10 PM ET.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates. All times eastern.
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11:30 PM:
Updated national delegate estimates, which now include initial estimates out of Arizona — which we project Biden winning — and updated numbers in Florida and Illinois…
We’ve allocated about two thirds of delegates at stake today — less than 2,000 left to allocate nationwide pic.twitter.com/KUdArF0e6Y
— Kabir Khanna (@kabir_here) March 18, 2020
A 300+ delegate lead with 60% of delegates decided? It’s a wrap. #math
— Addisu Demissie (@ASDem) March 18, 2020
At this point in 2008, @BarackObama was headed of @HillaryClinton by 100 delegates. At the end of tonight, @JoeBiden’s lead will be 3X that. No Dem has ever come back from anything like this deficit.
The race for the nomination is over. That is the reality @BernieSanders faces.— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) March 18, 2020
11:05 PM: NBC projects Biden will win Arizona.
BREAKING: Joe Biden wins the Arizona Democratic Primary, NBC News projects. https://t.co/TsrS2ICMQI pic.twitter.com/LTWJY1Agg5
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 18, 2020
More democratic voters voted in-person TODAY (with #coronavirus concerns) than in the 2016 Presidential Preference Election. And overall, no big issues at polling places in AZ’s largest county. https://t.co/uHJg5zNekW via @azcentral
— Jessica Boehm (@jboehm_NEWS) March 18, 2020
BIDEN’s victory in Arizona was powered by a double-digit win in Phoenix and surrounding suburbs. Ballgame right there.
— Christopher Cadelago (@ccadelago) March 18, 2020
11:00 PM: Arizona: Results will start to come in in Arizona as they usually do an hour after polls close.
10:05 PM: Illinois:
The only Illinois county that Sanders is currently leading in is the home of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) March 18, 2020
Marie Newman is leading Dan Lipinski in IL03. The top Lipinski wards have been counted. pic.twitter.com/z7VCfV9gzS
— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) March 18, 2020
10:00 PM: Polls closed in Arizona:
New—> With still over an hour until polls close in AZ, the # of in-person voters in Maricopa County taking part in the state’s 2020 Democratic presidential preference primary today has SURPASSED the number who took part in the 2016 Democratic presidential preference primary. pic.twitter.com/eIL2uK900n
— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) March 18, 2020
9:55 PM: Axelrod puts primary in the refrigerator for Biden:
David Axelrod on CNN: “This is over. It’s over. The election is over tonight. I think that is very clear.”
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) March 18, 2020
IDK what Sanders is going to do at this point. The case to drop out is quite strong. But one alternative I can imagine is something like a last stand in Wisconsin, which hasn’t delayed its primary.
Fair enough, but look at the WI-MI, WI-IL, WI-MN and even WI-IA border. pic.twitter.com/vVV62o9vBG— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) March 18, 2020
9:50 PM:
At @CBSNews Decision Desk, I’m looking at Lake County, IL — 339 precincts reporting so far & Sanders is severely underperforming vs 2016. Clinton won these precincts +7. pic.twitter.com/YyD0gKhC8m
— Delia Bailey (@deliabailey) March 18, 2020
9:38 PM: Biden says he is speaking from Delaware because of the CDC’s new guidelines. He asks people to “keep your social distance” to slow the spread of the virus. Biden thanks doctors, EMTs, nurses, frontline workers, workers who are helping keep the shelves stock. He says this is a moment when we need our leaders to lead and the choices we make as individuals will collectively impact what happens. Biden also thanks the poll workers who cleaned and disinfected voting booths and made sure voters could cast their ballots. Biden says he and Sanders may disagree on tactics but they share a common vision on health care and income inequality in addition to climate change. He says Sanders’ supporters have shifted the conversation and brought enthusiasm. He says he hears them and his goal is to unify the party and then the nation. Biden making a point to emphasize and repeatedly thanking and appreciating healthcare workers on the front lines and those working at busy grocery stores.
9:20 PM:
Bernie Sanders got crushed in Florida in 2016, but he still managed to win 9 counties and get 33% of the vote.
Now looks like he’s not going to win single county and is just shy of 23%. pic.twitter.com/E5a4iNMKLM
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) March 18, 2020
9:15 PM: Granholm calling for Dems to unite if Biden gets “landslide” win in Arizona:
.@JoeBiden in a landslide in FL and IL. If AZ follows suit, time to unite and heal the Dem party from internal division. Then heal the country from this coronovirus with strong, steady, experienced leadership. #GoJoe
— Jennifer Granholm (@JenGranholm) March 18, 2020
9:10 PM: Voters will decide if they think politicians running this fall are the former or latter.
Sorry in advance for the language but at times like this it becomes very easy to distinguish the people who truly care about others from the greedy selfish asshole pricks. (I blame @CSimmsQB for encouraging me to say this.)
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 12, 2020
I’ve never seen @drsanjaygupta like this. He is visibly frustrated that people aren’t listening. People aren’t taking this seriously enough: “Act as if you have the virus. ” “Never have we been so dependent on each other and we should rise to the occasion” #coronavirus
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) March 18, 2020
.@jaketapper and @drsanjaygupta are basically pleading with Americans to take the threat of COVID-19 seriously. This is not a drill folks!
— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) March 18, 2020
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned Republican senators Tuesday morning that the coronavirus pandemic could drive up US unemployment to 20%, a Republican Senate source told CNN’s @JDiamond1. (As first reported by Bloomberg News)
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 17, 2020
9:00 PM:
Biden now over 1,000 delegates in our national estimates…
(These reflect updated estimates out of Florida and initial estimates out of Illinois, which is leaning Biden with 5% of expected votes counted) pic.twitter.com/ZcAJFLs5iR
— Kabir Khanna (@kabir_here) March 18, 2020
8:50 PM: Kansas:
.@KansasDems announces that all registered Democrats in Kansas will automatically be mailed a ballot on March 30 for the party’s May 2 presidential primary (which is party run). Encouraging voters to seal ballot with water instead of saliva to help stop spread of coronavirus.
— Bryan Lowry (@BryanLowry3) March 17, 2020
8:45 PM: Sanders not winning self-identified Democrats.
In the early exits, @JoeBiden wins 2/3 of self-identified Democrats in both FL & AZ. Just as in 16, @SenSanders has now lost self-id’d Ds in almost every state w/an exit (especially since SC). It’s really hard to win a party’s nomination when you can’t win its partisans.
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) March 18, 2020
Sanders will not be speaking again tonight, his campaign tells @shaqbrewster https://t.co/NOSFRb3RSc
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) March 18, 2020
8:30 PM: Formality:
President Trump now has the delegates to secure the GOP nomination after winning the presidential primary in Illinois.
— Meredith Lee (@meredithllee) March 18, 2020
Just 8% of Democrats said they trust the information coming from President Trump about coronavirus. But three-quarters of Republicans said they do.
Two-thirds of Democrats trust what they hear in the news media. Republicans overwhelmingly said they don’t. https://t.co/CjnPrBBPqn pic.twitter.com/ngSfoSGlhZ
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) March 17, 2020
8:25 PM: Illinois being called for Biden:
BREAKING: Joe Biden is projected to win the Illinois primary, according to the AP. https://t.co/Hb9z7AU9BG pic.twitter.com/R3xQ4bxkCA
— NPR (@NPR) March 18, 2020
Joe Biden wins the Illinois primary.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) March 18, 2020
8:20 PM:
DELEGATE MATH: That’s the only thing that matters. @Joe Biden has a lead of 200 delegates, based on the CNN delegate tracker, with 912 for Biden, 712 for Sanders, who must win 56% of remaining delegates to win. In a proportional system, that all but translates to ‘out of reach.’
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) March 18, 2020
FLORIDA has four-fifths reporting and Joe Biden is dominating.
He’s winning men 62-30%, women 66-25%, white voters 66-23%, non-white voters 62-32%, seniors 79-7%, white college grads 63-27% (per NBC News exit polls).
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 18, 2020
8:10 PM:
Raw votes cast vs. ’16 in ’20 Dem primaries so far:
VA: +69%
TX: +45%
SC: +45%
TN: +38%
MI: +31%
MS: +19%
NH: +17%
VT: +17%
NC: +16%
MA: +15%
AL: +14%
MO: +6%
CA: +4% (still counting)
AR: +3%
OK: -10%Wouldn’t be surprised if IL ends up at -40%.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) March 17, 2020
8:00 PM: All polls closed in Florida. State immediately called for Biden.
7:45 PM:
Our decision desk expects turnout for the Florida Dem primary will end up around 2.25 million. In 2016, it was 1.7 million.
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) March 17, 2020
7:35 PM: Sanders for $2,000 cash payments. Sanders says utility services must also be restored to customers who have had water/electricity shut off. He calls for more funding for rental assistance and waiving of all student loan payments for the duration of the coronavirus crisis. He says the crisis should be another moneymaking opportunity for corporate American and Wall Street. He says the coronavirus vaccine must be free and says stock buybacks and bonus for executives should be banned during the coronavirus crisis.
“We need to provide a direct emergency $2,000 cash payment to every household in America every month for the duration of the crisis, to provide them with the assistance they need to pay their bills and take care of their families” @BernieSanders https://t.co/TSOEOJMsAI pic.twitter.com/u3S2WHsTX8
— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) March 17, 2020
As results begin to trickle in in Florida, @BernieSanders is speaking about the coronavirus on a livestream, estimating a $2 trillion price tag “to prevent deaths, job losses and to avoid an economic catastrophe.”
He hasn’t mentioned today’s voting yet.
— Adam Kelsey (@adamkelsey) March 17, 2020
I like where Bernie’s head is. https://t.co/y0ATWO52iE
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) March 17, 2020
7:30 PM: Math not looking good for Sanders:
Biden is on a path to net ~100 delegates out of Florida as we reach 20% of the vote counted. Bernie is not going to be able to turn this campaign around, folks.
— G. Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris) March 17, 2020
7:20 PM: Biden’s remarks scheduled for 9 PM. Can he deliver remarks without rambling, having trouble reading the prompter, and yelling into the microphone?
Biden will deliver election night remarks at 9pm
— Julia Manchester (@JuliaManch) March 17, 2020
7:10 PM: Biden up big in Florida:
Biden with a 32 point lead in the Pasco early + absentee.
And 36 point lead in Broward.
Florida is done. It is all in the delegate count now.
— Steve “FSU Hoops are ACC Champs” Schale (@steveschale) March 17, 2020
Bernie Sanders made attacks on Joe Biden’s record on Social Security a major point of contrast (even ran ads in Florida), but Florida Dem voters said trust Biden more on it.
https://t.co/WjMBBWu78A pic.twitter.com/n5pF4tulhS— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) March 17, 2020
7:00 PM: Most polls in Florida closed.
6:50 PM: Biden trusted to handle crisis:
NEW: in phone polling, it’s Biden over Sanders on trust to handle a crisis 71-23 percent in Florida, 64-31 in Illinois and 63-31 percent in Arizona. This is in lieu of typical exit polls.
— Rick Klein (@rickklein) March 17, 2020
AZ, FL, OH @CBSNews Exit Poll:
Voters picked health care as the issue that would be most important in their vote pic.twitter.com/KnIH2xE8uN
— Cara Korte (@CaraKorte) March 17, 2020
Florida Poll, On Medicare For All:
Support 57%
Oppose 32%CBS pic.twitter.com/9ZqoN0Euhm
— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) March 17, 2020
Something to think about as Florida’s results come in:
2) The Sanders campaign choosing San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz as a campaign co-chair in 2020 was a very controversial choice. White liberals might love her, but a lot of Puerto Ricans do not, especially moderate Dems and GOPers.
3) Boricuas in Central FL love Obama.
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) March 16, 2020
Sanders Camp vs. Biden Camp:
Genuinely cannot believe that the Biden campaign is trying to reassure America by specifically citing the 1918 pandemic that saw “an estimated 675,000 died from the flu — more than 12 times the number of American combat deaths in World War I.” https://t.co/tqgZh8Ogd8 https://t.co/YFXOtHAXtu
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) March 17, 2020
Currently in a poorly ventilated basement of the Gage Park early vote site, the second largest Latino district in Illinois. The current wait time here is just over an hour. Folks have already started to leave saying they aren’t willing to risk their health. #IllinoisPrimary pic.twitter.com/jAxoI6mkcG
— Abshir Omar (@AbshirDSM) March 17, 2020
JUST IN: In new statement, @DNC is calling on states yet to hold primaries to “use a variety of other critical mechanisms that will make voting easier and safer for voters and election officials alike. The simplest tool is vote by mail.” pic.twitter.com/U5i8OAmPVr
— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) March 17, 2020
VIDEO: Ohio polling workers pick up cancellation signs to post at their respective locations, after Governor Mike DeWine issued on Monday night a delay to the state’s primaries due to concerns of coronavirus pic.twitter.com/axlcHmwo8B
— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 17, 2020
WATCH: @VaughnHillyard interviews an 82-year-old Arizona voter who discovered the polling location she had used for decades was closed. She then spent 80 minutes finding a new location to cast her vote. pic.twitter.com/SGrpzOiOEH
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 17, 2020
At the polling place for the 38th Ward’s 3rd & 4th precincts, judges said their election coordinator never showed up. They also don’t have wipes for the touchscreens. Some voters are showing up in masks.
— Mick Dumke (@mickeyd1971) March 17, 2020
How’s your Election Day going? #COVID19 #BarringtonIL @GovPritzker @cookcountyclerk pic.twitter.com/UX4uo0pJe9
— Brian Prigge (@brprigge) March 17, 2020
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