Joe Biden had a surprise set of victories on Super Tuesday. Biden failed to get substantial fundraising and had not won a single state until South Carolina. Many pollsters and analysts had predicted Biden would have a strong showing on Tuesday, but few had predicted his performance. The former Vice-President won ten of the fourteen states up for grabs, which included a highly contested race in Texas.

Government teacher John Burkle has been following the primaries closely and was surprised by the results of Tuesday’s primaries.

“I’ve never seen a candidate go from being on political life support to frontrunner in the span of about twenty-four hours,” Burkle said.

Biden dominated the South, while claiming some states thought to be safe for Sanders. Biden won Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

However, the night was not a total loss for Senator Bernie Sanders. The Senator won in Utah, Colorado, Vermont, and California. 

As of March 5, 2020, Biden has a total of 603 delegates, while Sanders has a total of 538, according to NPR.

“I expected [Biden] to be losing by 50 or so delegates, but now he’ll be leading Sanders by around as many delegates,” Burkle said.

One of the biggest surprises of the night was the state of Minnesota. Most analysts predicted Senator Sanders would win rather easily. However, Biden beat Sanders in the state by around nine percent. One possible reason for this unpredicted shift is that Minnesota transitioned from a caucus state in 2016 to a primary state in 2020.

“Well Minnesota switched from a caucus that went to Sanders to a primary state that went to Biden,” Burkle said. “Sanders benefits from caucusing because his supporters are extremely vocal.”

Following a poor Super Tuesday showing, former Mayor Mike Bloomberg ended his presidential bid. In the press release that announced his campaign’s conclusion Bloomberg also proceeded to endorse former Vice-President Joe Biden.

“I’ve always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After yesterday’s vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden,” Bloomberg stated in a press release.

Then on Thursday, Elizabeth Warren announced she would be ending her campaign also due to a poor performance on Super Tuesday.

Another issue observed Tuesday was the lack of voter turnout amongst the 17 to 29 years old age group. The similar demographic found at City High.

“It feels like [Biden] is very much an establishment, and then [Sanders] is a proclaimed revolutionary,” said Burkle. “So there’s no middle ground for the youthful vote.”

Looking ahead, the path to victory seems very open for Biden. Sanders will need to reinvigorate his base and convince America he can win both the primary and a general election.

“I think [the election is] Joe Biden’s to lose,” Burkle said. “In the states that are left Bernie Sanders would have to perform above and beyond what he has already shown that he can do. So I think it would have to be an astronomical shift for Bernie to still win it.”