The Associated Press called Joe Biden the winner of Michigan's Democratic presidential primary less than two hours after polls closed. This adds to his campaign's wins in Mississippi and Missouri. Unlike in 2016, competitor Bernie Sanders did not win the state.
MLive reported that as of 9:15 p.m. Biden was ahead of Sanders by 12 percentage points. By 11 p.m., reported votes showed that Biden's lead had grown to 15 percentage points.
There were 125 delegates at stake in Michigan's primary and it is a key state for Democrats hoping to do well in the Electoral College in November, Vox's Ella Nilsen reported. Over the last several days, Biden's campaign made a push for supporters, sending surrogates to the state and earning endorsements from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and previous campaign rivals Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.
"Biden appeared to perform well both with Michigan's African American population and its white working class, two groups Democrats hope to turn out in a general election against President Donald Trump," Nilsen wrote. "… Even with strong support in Detroit, polls here have also shown Biden doing well among white voters. This constituency matters if Biden wants to make a general election argument that he can beat Trump among white working class voters, as well as boost African American turnout."
As his campaign stands now, Biden looks to be the Democratic front-runner.
