Super Tuesday 2020

By Veronica Rocha, Amanda Wills, Mike Hayes and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 4:03 p.m. ET, March 4, 2020
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12:26 a.m. ET, March 4, 2020

Biden takes the lead in dramatic Texas race

Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Joe Biden has taken the lead in a tight race unfolding in Texas tonight.

Bernie Sanders and Biden were in a virtual tie earlier tonight, but over the past few minutes, Biden's lead has jumped.

Some context: Hillary Clinton beat Sanders in Texas by roughly 2 to 1 in 2016 — 65% to 33%.

See the latest results here.

Watch:

12:19 a.m. ET, March 4, 2020

Biden takes narrow lead in Texas

Joe Biden just took a narrow lead in a tight race in Texas.

Biden and Bernie Sanders are going head-to-head in the Lone Star state, which has 228 delegates at stake.

Watch:

12:14 a.m. ET, March 4, 2020

It's a very tight race between Biden and Sanders in Texas right now

Drama is unfolding in Texas, where Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are in a virtual tie.

Sanders has a very narrow lead over Biden with 56% of the votes in.

There are 228 delegates at stake in Texas — the second biggest prize of the night.

Watch:

11:54 p.m. ET, March 3, 2020

What Republican strategists are saying about Biden's Super Tuesday success

From CNN's Michael Warren

Chris Carlson/AP
Chris Carlson/AP

As Joe Biden notched a number of wins on Super Tuesday, Republican strategists focused on down-ballot races had two main reactions: Biden’s success likely makes it harder for Republicans to defeat swing-state Democratic candidates, but it also presages a protracted fight in the Democratic primary that could benefit the GOP in November.

One persistent concern among moderate and establishment Democrats is that if Bernie Sanders is the nominee, it could spell trouble for Democratic incumbents and candidates in House and Senate races across the country. Many of them would be forced to distance themselves from Sanders’ far-left policies.

“A great night for Biden is a great night for the DSCC,” said a Republican strategist, referring to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Two other GOP operatives said they would rather have Sanders as the nominee so they could tie him and his policies to more moderate Democratic Senate challengers — like John Hickenlooper in Colorado, Cal Cunningham in North Carolina, and Mark Kelly in Arizona. Those Democrats might have a tougher time beating endangered Republican incumbents if they have to defend or answer for proposals like Medicare for All or even the “democratic socialist” label Sanders has given himself.

“Preferable to have the socialist with momentum rather than the likable yet bumbling clown,” said one of those operatives.

The other view is that more division and drama in the Democratic presidential primary benefits the Republican Party. The idea here is that while Republicans remain united behind President Trump, Democrats could spend months sniping at each other and sowing distrust between the progressive wing backing Sanders, and the rest of the party, which appears to be coalescing around Biden. 

“The longer this primary drama rages on, the better for us,” said the other Republican operative, who is focused on Senate races.

The distrust among Sanders’ supporters for the Democratic establishment, who are increasingly backing Biden, could “be breaking the party apart” in a way that Republicans hope would depress turnout on the Democratic side in November, that second operative said.

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale released a statement tonight emphasizing this point.

“The results only increase the likelihood that no candidate will have enough delegates for a first ballot victory at their convention, which only means more chaos! The media is hyperventilating about Joe Biden but everyone should remember that he is just as terrible a candidate right now as he was a few days ago. At the same time, establishment Democrats have ganged up to try to deny Bernie Sanders the nomination, which is causing even more mayhem,” Parscale said. 

“I think a protracted fight is good for Republicans on net,” said the GOP strategist. “But there are advantages to knowing what you’re shooting at sooner rather than later.”

11:51 p.m. ET, March 3, 2020

Why Warren lost Massachusetts

From CNN's Grace Sparks

Elizabeth Warren’s poor performance in her home state reflected a loss of support among her core groups: women, white college-educated voters and liberals. 

Warren drew only around 1 in 10 women voters in Massachusetts, according to exit polls. That was significantly fewer than projected winner Joe Biden, who led with around a third of women, and Bernie Sanders with 3 in 10. 

Around 1 in 5 white college-educated Massachusetts Democrats chose Warren for the nomination -- less than the 3 in 10 who voted for Biden and 3 in 10 for Sanders. 

Finally, liberal voters, who might have split between Warren and Sanders, went strongly for Sanders, around 2 in 5, followed by Biden, around 3 in 10. Around 1 in 10 liberals voted for Warren. As in other states, Biden carried those over 65 and moderates in Massachusetts.

11:50 p.m. ET, March 3, 2020

Did Bloomberg's stop-and-frisk apology work?

From CNN's Tami Luhby

Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Mike Bloomberg has been heavily criticized for his support of the controversial stop-and-frisk policing policy while he was mayor of New York.

But that doesn’t seem to have dampened his support among blacks in Alabama, Massachusetts and Texas.

In all three states, Bloomberg captured a somewhat larger share of votes cast by blacks than by whites.

However, in several other states, the voting ratio was essentially the same. And the former mayor did relatively worse among black voters in Minnesota and Virginia.

11:53 p.m. ET, March 3, 2020

Warren confidant: "There is no path forward for her"

From CNN's Jeff Zeleny

A top Democrat and Warren confidant said Warren deserved the time to come to a decision on her own and shouldn’t be pushed from the race. But the reality is clear: She has no path.

“There is no path forward for her,” the top Democrat said tonight. “It’s beneath her to remain” in the race.

Going into Super Tuesday, advisers said she wanted to stay in the race to become an alternative to Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. She wanted to be on the debate stage March 15 in Arizona to offer voters a third choice. 

The fading hopes are pinned entirely to her performance in California tonight, but the prospect of falling below viability in Texas makes an already difficult path even more so.

11:53 p.m. ET, March 3, 2020

Nearly half of the polling stations in this major Texas county remain open

From CNN's Paul Murphy

Voters line up at a polling station to cast their ballots during the presidential primary in Houston, Texas on Tuesday, March 3.
Voters line up at a polling station to cast their ballots during the presidential primary in Houston, Texas on Tuesday, March 3. Mark Felix/AFP/Getty Images

In Harris County, Texas – which includes Houston – nearly half of the polling stations remain open.

According to Harris County Elections spokesperson Rosio Torres, the data shows 371 polls are still open at this time, out of 802 sites.

Watch:

11:34 p.m. ET, March 3, 2020

It's 11:30 p.m. ET. Here's where things stand.

AP
AP

Results are still coming in from the two biggest prizes — California and Texas — in tonight's contests.

If you're just tuning in, here's where things stand as of now:

Joe Biden will win 8 states: The former vice president is projected to win eight states — Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Bernie Sanders to take 3 states: The Vermont senator is projected to win contests in Colorado, Vermont and Utah. Speaking at a rally tonight, Sanders vowed to win the Democratic nomination.

About California: It has a massive 415 delegates at stake. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles County, voters were given additional time to cast their ballots for candidates. Voters across the area reported long lines at polling centers.