Former Vice President Joe Biden is looking to maintain momentum after his campaign-saving Super Tuesday and bury the fading hopes of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday as 352 Democratic delegates spanning six states are up for grabs.
Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Washington state residents will head to the polls for primary votes, while North Dakota will hold its caucus.
The biggest prize of the night is 125-delegate Michigan, which could prove Sanders’ Waterloo.
A candidate needs to nab 1,991 delegates in order to avoid a contentious brokering process at the Democratic National Convention in July.
Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, came into Super Tuesday looking like a lock for party’s nomination but was steamrolled as the more moderate Biden grabbed a string of states, including upsets in Minnesota and Massachusetts.
But Biden’s biggest underdog victory came in Texas, home to a whopping 228 delegates.
Sanders will likely need a similar win in Michigan — a state handily projected to go for Biden — in order to keep his White House hopes alive.
Here’s how the states are playing out:
Biden secures Missouri victory
Joe Biden showed up in the Show-Me State
The former vice president snagged his second win of the night in Missouri — — which will award 68 delegates, according to Associated Press projections.
The RealClearPolitics polling average released on Monday had given the former Vice President a 30 point lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 61 percent to 30.7 percent.
Both candidates had been campaigning hard in the Midwestern state.
Sanders lost the state to Hillary Clinton by just 1,531 votes in 2016 and needed a victory there and in Michigan, after largely conceding the south to Biden.
Missouri polls closed at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
Biden takes Mississippi
Former Vice President Joe Biden has seized Mississippi, according to network projections.
He had been the clear favorite to win thanks to his overwhelming support from black voters.
Analysis by polling website FiveThirtyEight tipped Biden to win the Magnolia State with an average of 65 percent of the vote compared to 25 percent for Bernie Sanders.
Sanders gave up on Mississippi and its 36 delegates after Biden swept the south on Super Tuesday — cancelling a planned rally in Jackson and instead spending the last days of the race in the Midwest.
Sanders had a dismal showing in Mississippi in 2016 after black voters propelled Hillary Clinton to victory — giving her 82.6 percent of the vote.
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