Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is projected to win Virginia’s primary Tuesday evening in his second victory in a state nominating contest.
Virginia has 99 delegates up for grabs Tuesday night. Biden is projected to win at least a plurality of them, NBC News projected.
The former vice president won the party’s South Carolina primary election Saturday evening in a major boost for the former front-runner’s campaign, which had faltered in recent weeks after months of holding front-runner status nationally.
Senator Bernie Sanders began beating Biden in national polls as he won in New Hampshire and Nevada and tied with former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg in the Iowa caucuses.
Sanders won his home state of Vermont in an expected victory. He is expected to earn at least a plurality of Vermont’s 16 delegates. Biden, however, may prevent Sanders from sweeping the state’s delegates, as he did in 2016.
Buttigieg and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar both dropped out of the Democratic 2020 race after Biden’s South Carolina win and endorsed him this week in another boon for the former vice president’s campaign.
A total of 1,344 delegates are up for grabs in the 14 state primaries on Super Tuesday. A majority of at least 1,991 of the entire 3,979 pledged delegates in the nominating race is required to win the Democratic presidential nomination on the first ballot at the party’s convention this summer.
Three other 2020 candidates are competing in Tuesday’s primary contests, Massachusets Senator Elizabeth Warren, former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.