Former Vice President Joe Biden won the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in Massachusetts on Tuesday, defeating Sen. Elizabeth Warren in her home state, The Associated Press and NBC News reported.
Initial results showed Biden with nearly 34% of the state’s vote, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in second with about 27% and Warren trailing behind in third with roughly 20%.
Biden’s victory marked a major blow to Warren, who had a disappointing showing in the first handful of primary contests and again on Super Tuesday, failing to win a single state.
In Oklahoma, where she was born and raised, Warren was projected to finish in fourth place on Tuesday. Biden won the state with more than 38% of the vote, early results showed.
A Suffolk University/WBZ/Boston Globe poll released on Saturday showed Warren and Sanders in a virtual tie for first in Massachusetts, one of the most liberal states in the country. The same poll showed Biden in a distant fifth place behind former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who dropped out of the race on Sunday.
Biden appeared to receive a significant boost from endorsements by Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, two moderate Democrats who threw their support behind him in recent days after suspending their own campaigns.
Biden nabbed several other high-profile endorsements this week, including from former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who ended his presidential bid in November, as well as former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.
It’s possible progressive voters in Massachusetts were torn between Warren and Sanders, who are often compared on the campaign trail given their similar progressive policy proposals This splintering likely cleared the way for Biden’s win in the state ― despite having never held a single campaign event there.
As of late Tuesday night, Biden was projected to win at least eight out of the 14 states holding Super Tuesday contests. Sanders was projected to win at least four.
