Latino Voters Deliver Bernie Sanders Major Victory In California Primary
Fourteen states voted on Super Tuesday and Vice President Joe Biden led the pack of Democratic candidates. Bernie Sanders, despite a decisive win in California, now has the second-highest delegate count. Latino voters made their voices heard, especially in California where they delivered Sanders a strong victory.
Sen. Bernie Sanders won the biggest Super Tuesday prize: California.
According to Vox, Latinos in California largely supported Sen. Sanders. Forty-nine percent of Latino voters in the Golden State voted for Sanders with 12 percent voting for Vice President Joe Biden. There was a clear generational divide in support for Sen. Sanders. Seventy-one percent of Latinos 18-29 supported Sen. Sanders while 35 percent of Latinos 45-64 supported the Vermont senator.
Sen. Sanders won more than a million votes in California earning him 135 delegates.
As of noon March 4, 87 percent of precincts were reporting giving Sen. Sanders a commanding 9-point lead over Vice President Biden. Leading up to the election, Sen. Sanders was polling highest among Latino voters and it seems Latinos came out to vote and gave Sen. Sanders the advantage he needed to win California.
However, young voters, Sen. Sanders’s key voters, turned out in smaller numbers during the primary.
The number of young voters in Alabama, South Carolina, and North Carolina was down compared to the 2016 primary elections. In Alabama, 10 percent of voters were 17-29 this year compared to 14 percent in 2016. Young voters are the key demographic for Sen. Sanders and the lack of voting participation from young voters contributed to Sen. Sanders’s lackluster night.
Vice President Biden pulled off an unexpected and impressive performance.
Vice President Biden won 10 of the 14 states during Super Tuesday, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s home state Massachusetts. Black voters in the southern states came out in huge numbers to cast their ballots for Vice President Biden. Six states are voting in their primaries next week and there are 352 more delegates up for grabs that week. A candidate needs 1,991 candidates to secure the nomination outright before the convention. So far, Vice President Biden leads with 566 delegates and Sen. Sanders is a close second with 501.
