Joe Biden was the big winner on Super Tuesday, taking home victories in nine states, while Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders managed to win four primary contests. Maine remain too close to call, with Biden and Sanders percentage points apart.
Biden took the delegate lead, and has 506 compared to Sanders who has 440 delegates so far.
Biden told his supporters that his campaign is "very much alive" and that he's ready to "send Donald Trump packing."
"Those who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind. This is your campaign. Just a few days ago, the press and the declared the campaign dead. And came South Carolina. And they had something to say about it," Biden said.
The night was a disappointment for Elizabeth Warren, who finished in third place in her home state of Massachusetts. Mike Bloomberg also underperformed, despite spending over $560 million of his own money. He did manage to win in American Samoa and picked up some delegates by garnering 15% of the vote in a few states.
As the polls on the East coast closed on Tuesday night, there were no big surprises. Sanders won his home state, while Biden earned early victories in Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama.
Biden rode heavy support from black voters to victories in the southern states. In North Carolina and Virginia, he had the support of roughly 60% of black voters, and 72% said they voted for him Alabama exit polls.
Massachusetts came down to the wire, but Biden managed to pull out a surprise win against Sanders.
Biden performed well in the second wave of races, claiming victories in Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Oklahoma, and Sanders won in Colorado and Utah.
The biggest upset of night came in Texas, where Biden rallied late to win the state.
While Sanders managed to win just four states, he cruised to victory in California, which had 415 delegates up for grabs.
Sanders told his supporters that he has "absolute confidence" that he will win the nomination and defeat President Trump in November.
"We're going to win because the people understand it is our campaign, our movement, which is best positioned to defeat Trump," Sanders said. "You cannot beat Trump with the same old same old kind of politics."
The delegates are awarded proportionally to any candidate that earns at least 15% of the vote. A candidate needs 1,991 pledged delegates ahead of the Democratic Convention in July to win the nomination outright.
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