Biden sweeps Tuesday’s primaries

Decisive primary victories in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona on Tuesday gave former Vice President Joe Biden an almost insurmountable lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders in the race for the Democratic nomination for president. Biden continued to win over African American and older voters and gained ground with Hispanics. In a livestream address to supporters from his home state of Delaware, he told younger voters who continue to cling to Sanders, “I hear you. I know what’s at stake. I know what we have to do.”

Is Sanders ready to bow out? His campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, said the independent senator from Vermont “is going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign.” But Shakir also suggested his candidate is no hurry to make any decisions about dropping out, noting that “the next primary contest is at least three weeks away.” When Sanders ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016, he did not step aside until after the last primary. Several states have postponed their primaries due to the coronavirus pandemic, which could prolong the intensity of the campaign. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump easily clinched the Republican nomination with wins in Florida and Illinois on Tuesday.

Dig deeper: Read Lynde Langdon’s report in The Sift about how Ohio leaders decided at the last minute to postpone the state’s primary scheduled for Tuesday.

Editor’s note: WORLD updated this report since its initial posting.