Sanders and Warren allies reportedly in talks to push a progressive agenda – as it happened

The Trump administration has chosen Marshall Billingslea, a former Bush-era official involved a torture program, as his nuclear envoy. The Guardian’s Julian Borger reports:

Billingslea is currently the under-secretary for terrorist financing at the US Treasury. His nomination last year for a top human rights job at the state department was stalled by controversy over the extent of his involvement in the torture programme established by the George W Bush administration, in which he oversaw the conditions of detainees in Guantánamo Bay.

Neither the state department nor the treasury responded to a request for comment, but congressional staffers and former officials said Billingslea had accepted the post.

Update: Symone Sanders, who said she broke a nail yesterday after blocking a protestor who tried to rush at Joe Biden, has gotten herself to the salon.

Sanders, who is Joe Biden’s senior advisor, and Jill Biden — the candidate’s wife — emerged as heroes last night after swooping into action when anti-dairy protestors rushed toward the former vice president.

Surrogates and allies of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are reportedly discussing strategies to unite to push a progressive agenda, the Washington Post reports. The expectation is that Warren, who has persisted despite a series of campaign setbacks, would drop out:

The conversations, which are in an early phase, largely involve members of Congress who back Sanders (I-Vt.) reaching out to those in Warren’s camp to explore the prospect that Warren (D-Mass.) might endorse him. They are also appealing to Warren’s supporters to switch their allegiance to Sanders, according two people with direct knowledge of the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss delicate discussions that are supposed to be confidential.

The whirlwind of activity reflects the rapid changes in a Democratic primary that is still very much in transition. As late as Tuesday, many Warren allies believed she would stay in the race until the Democratic convention, despite her poor showing to date in the primaries, in hopes of retaining her clout and influencing the eventual nominee.

The Guardian’s Saad Ejaz was at Michael Bloomberg’s farewell speech earlier today, here’s his report from the room …

Michael Bloomberg gave his last public appearance as a presidential nominee today, consoling a room full of staff and supporters at a Manhattan Hotel.

“Mike will get it done,” the crowd chanted, rather unenthusiastically, as they waited for Bloomberg.

“I entered the race for the president to defeat Donald Trump,” explained Bloomberg once he took the stage, “And today I am leaving the race for the same reason.”

Super Tuesday marked the first time the billionaire, his message or his money had been tested. The numbers were not kind. “I’ve always believed that data should inform our decision,” he admitted, “After Yesterday’s results, the delegate math had become virtually impossible and a viable path to the nomination just no longer existed.”

Instead, it was time to unite behind one candidate to defeat Donald Trump, Bloomberg said, and that could only be his “friend and a great American” Joe Biden.

“I am glad to say that I endorse Joe Biden, and I hope you will join me in working to make him the next president of the United states,” Bloomberg said of the candidate who, just 11 weeks before, he was unconvinced could beat Trump or run the country.

“He’s never been the manager of an organization, he’s never run a school system,” Bloomberg told MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle in December.“The presidency shouldn’t be a training job.”

Many of Bloomberg’s supporters were in a somber mood; some were in tears as the speech ended. “I’m just so sad and disappointed,” said Margaret Brick, who has supported Bloomberg for the past 17 years, “But I think he’s really going to help Joe.”

Other members of the campaign, like Abdul Malik, were not as sure of Joe Biden. Malik had worked with the Bloomberg campaign to increase outreach with people of color.

“I don’t know about Joe Biden yet,” said Malik, “My biggest issue is criminal justice reform and no one else comes close to Bloomberg’s plan.”

Bloomberg himself was overcome with emotion, as he reflected on his campaign’s journey.“I’m just amazed at how many have stood with me shoulder to shoulder,” he said at the verge of tears, “Working and fighting every step of the way.”

“And you do it because you love America as much as I do and that’s all I could ever ask for.”

Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally, told CNN that Joe Biden would be a tough opponent in the election.

“I think Joe Biden’s got a good reputation,” said Graham, a Republican senator of South Carolina. “He’d be more moderate than Bernie, but I still think it’s Trump’s to lose.”

Biden’s victory in Graham’s home state is what gave the firmer vice president’s flagging campaign the boost and momentum to take on Super Tuesday.

Chuck Schumer’s team has responded to Chief Justice John Roberts’ reprimand.

In a rare statement, Roberts described a speech that Schumer delivered as the Supreme Court considered a case that could result in grave new abortion restrictions as “threatening”.

Schumer had said that the Trump-appointed justices would pay a price for restricting abortion access.

“Sen. Schumer’s comments were a reference to the political price Senate Republicans will pay for putting these justices on the court, and a warning that the justices will unleash a major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision,” said the senator’s spokesperson Justin Goodman in a statement. “For Justice Roberts to follow the right wing’s deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices Sotomayor and Ginsberg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes.”

Bernie Sanders admitted he hadn’t been as successful as he’d hoped at galvanizing youth turnout.

“Have we been as successful as I would hope in bringing young people in? And the answer is no,” he said, speaking at his campaign headquarters in Vermont. “We’re making some progress. But historically younger people do not vote in the kind of numbers that older people vote in. I think that will change in the general election.”

He told reporters he was “disappointed” by the Super Tuesday results.

“Of course I’m disappointed,” he said. “I would like to win every state by a landslide. It’s not going to happen.”

But he emphasized the importance of upcoming races Michigan and other midwestern states, where he and Joe Biden are competing to win over working-class voters — to whom both candidates seem to appeal.

“Joe and I are running very different campaigns,” he said. “And my hope is that in the coming months, we will be able to debate and discuss the very significant differences that we have.”

Hi, there! It’s Maanvi Singh, blogging from the West Coast.

In a rare statement, Chief Justice John Roberts denounced comments from Senator Chuck Schumer, who spoke at a rally outside the Supreme Court as the court heard oral arguments in a case that could result in new restrictions on abortion access.

“Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous,” Roberts said.

Schumer has said that Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — Trump’s Supreme Court appointees — “won’t know what hit” them if they voted to uphold abortion restrictions.

“I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price,” Schumer said.

Who were the two “no” votes on the House’s coronavirus bill? Republican congressmen Ken Buck and Andy Biggs.

The conservative lawmakers questioned the need for $8 billion in funding to combat the health threat.

However, other House Republicans, including minority leader Kevin McCarthy, said the $2.5 billion originally requested by the White House was “a little low.”

Some of congressman Matt Gaetz’s House colleagues teased him about wearing a gas mask on to the House floor to vote on the coronvirus bill.

The House is preparing to vote on its $8 billion bill aimed at combatting the spread of coronavirus.

Congressman Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican and one of the president’s closest allies, drew attention to himself by wearing a gas mask on to the House floor as he prepared to vote.

The $8 billion package, which marks a significant increase in spending from what the Trump administration originally proposed, is expected to pass the House and advance to the Senate.

Here’s a funny addendum to last night’s coverage of the protest that disrupted Joe Biden’s speech in Los Angeles:

Symone Sanders, one of the former vice president’s top aides, won Twitter praise after she physically grabbed one of the anti-dairy protesters and dragged her off stage.

Sanders responded to the viral video by tweeting this:

The top Biden adviser has now provided an update that she has made it to the salon to “restore” the nail:

If reports of Steve Bullock’s soon-to-be-launched Senate campaign are accurate, it would shift forecasts for the likely outcome of the Montana Senate race:

Again, Democrats need to flip four Senate seats (or three seats and the White House) to take control of the chamber.

Democratic senator Doug Jones is likely to lose his race in Alabama, given the conservative leanings of the state, so Bullock’s candidacy would give a needed boost to Democratic hopes of taking back the Senate.

Senator Kamala Harris appears open to endorsing one of her former presidential primary rivals.

Asked by a CBS News reporter on Capitol Hill whether she intended to endorse, the California senator said, “We’ll see.”

Reports emerged in January that Harris, who dropped out of the primary in December, was considering an endorsement of Joe Biden.

However, Harris did not wade back into the race before her state’s Super Tuesday primary yesterday.

Now that the primary is shaping up to be a two-candidate race between Biden and Bernie Sanders, Harris may be reconsidering her position.

Mike Bloomberg’s emotional address thanking supporters after suspending his presidential campaign came as a surprise to reporters who covered Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor of New York.

Getting a little emotional, Mike Bloomberg expressed his gratitude to supporters who helped power his short-lived campaign.

“No matter what happened, this is the best day of my life, and tomorrow will be even better,” the former New York mayor told the crowd.

Bloomberg also invoked the imagery of Paul Revere hanging two lanterns in Boston’s Old North Church to help Americans fighting the Revolutionary War to reflect on keeping hope alive in the country.

“We will not allow any president to dim that light,” Bloomberg said.

Bernie Sanders said he still believes the presidential candidate with the most delegates should be the nominee, even if that person doesn’t win a majority of pledged delegates.

The Vermont senator made a similar comment during last month’s debate in Las Vegas, but he was the undisputed frontrunner at the time.

Now that Joe Biden appears to have taken the delegate lead, there was speculation that Sanders may change his tune, but he is sticking with his stance on the “plurality vs. majority” debate.

For what it’s worth, at the Las Vegas debate, every other presidential candidate, including Biden, said the nominee should have a majority of pledged delegates. If no one has a majority, they said, the rules of the convention should determine the nominee.

Bernie Sanders appeared surprised by the news that Mike Bloomberg had dropped out of the presidential primary earlier today.

“First I heard about that,” Sanders told a reporter who asked about the implications of Bloomberg’s withdrawal and endorsement of Joe Biden.

“I suspect we will see a lot of money coming into Biden’s campaign,” Sanders said of Bloomberg’s decision. “Probably a lot of negative ads. That’s what we’re taking on.”

Bernie Sanders said he had talked to Elizabeth Warren earlier today, as the Massachusetts senator faces some calls to drop out of the race.

Sanders said Warren had not made any decisions about the future of her campaign after she failed to win a single state on Super Tuesday.

Sanders did not call on Warren to suspend her campaign, adding that he is “disgusted” by the online vitriol directed at his Senate colleague.

The AP has now called every Super Tuesday race, and the final tally is:

• 10 state victories for Joe Biden.
• 4 state victories for Bernie Sanders.
• 0 state wins for Elizabeth Warren.
• 0 state wins for Mike Bloomberg, who has now dropped out. (But the billionaire did win the territory of American Samoa.)

It’s very important to remember that the margin of victory in each state will be crucial in determining Biden’s net delegate gain from Super Tuesday.

However, it’s undeniable that those numbers were not what Sanders wanted out of Super Tuesday and certainly not what most political pundits were expecting a week ago.

Trump addressed conerns about coronavirus while speaking at the Annual Latino Coalition Legislative Summit.

“We’re using every resource at our disposal,” Trump told the crowd. “The heath and safety of our people is our first priority.”

Meanwhile, the House plans to vote on a nearly $8 billion package meant to prevent further spread of the virus in about two to three hours.

As expected, the chair of the House homeland security committee is asking for an immediate review of whether Democratic presidential candidates merit Secret Service protection.

Chairman Bennie Thompson wrote in a letter to congressional leaders and the acting secretary of the department of homeland security that Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders appear to meet the criteria for a Secret Service detail.

Bernie Sanders will deliver an update on his campaign in about 30 minutes from his headquarters in Burlington, Vermont.

It’s unclear what update the Vermont senator will offer, but a former top aide to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign predicted Sanders would come out swinging against Joe Biden after the former vice president’s strong Super Tuesday performance:

House Democrats are reportedly requesting Secret Service protection for presidential candidates, after two protesters ran onto the Los Angeles stage where Joe Biden was delivering his speech last night.

Congressman Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of Biden’s campaign, told reporters that Democratic lawmakers are “worried” about the safety of the candidates.

Biden had so little security last night that, when two anti-dairy protesters charged the stage last night, Biden’s wife and top aide were forced to help get the demonstrators off the stage.

This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Adam Gabbatt.

Elizabeth Warren is facing calls to drop out of the race, after the Massachusetts senator failed to win a single Super Tuesday state.

Allies of Bernie Sanders hope Warren’s supporters will coalesce around him, the other progressive senator in the race, once she drops out, allowing him to run up the score against Joe Biden.

However, it’s important to note that many of Warren’s voters have already drifted to Sanders, so those who are still supporting her may have reservations about both Sanders and Biden. It’s hard to say how those voters will split once she’s out of the race:

As we follow the tumult of the Democratic campaign, there is serious business going on in Washington DC, where the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in case that could result in grave new restrictions on abortion access.

My colleague Lauren Aratani is covering the case of June Medical Service LLC v Russo, the first major abortion case to be heard by the new conservative majority supreme court. The conservatives Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh were appointed to the court by Donald Trump.

Lauren writes:

The case stems from a state law in Louisiana that requires doctors to be registered to a state-authorized hospital within 30 miles of an abortion clinic in order to be permitted to perform abortions. The state law is meant to heavily restrict access to abortion.

Chief justice John Roberts has set himself up to be a key decider in the case as one of the only potential swing votes on the court. The main question Roberts seemed to be hung on is the similarity of this case versus one the court ruled on in 2016 (which struck down an identical law in Texas).

There are both pro-choice and anti-abortion rallies taking place outside the Supreme Court as the judges listen to the arguments.

Mike Bloomberg, we hardly knew ye.

Some hot takes are coming in on Bloomberg’s drop out. One thing that’s clear is his current total of 44 delegates, per Associated Press, didn’t come cheap.

By my reckoning – and I have an A-level in Mathematics – Bloomberg’s ~$500m expenditure equates to at least $11.3m per delegate.

Of course, Bloomberg is only the second billionaire to drop out of the Democratic primary. The former hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer withdrew on Saturday, having spent $250m of his own money in return for zero delegates.

Of course, Bloomberg is only the second billionaire to drop out of the Democratic primary. The former hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer withdrew on Saturday, having spent $250m of his own money in return for zero delegates.

US stocks jumped more than 2% this morning, according to Reuters: “As investors cheered Joe Biden’s surprise lead in the Democratic primaries.”

Moments after markets opened, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 620 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up by 1.6%.

CNBC reports:

Biden’s performance boosted stocks of health-care companies such as UnitedHealth, one of the largest health insurers in the United States and whose equity is sometimes viewed as a bellwether during political debates around the industry. The stock rose 10 percent in extended trading Tuesday night.

It makes sense, given Biden’s healthcare proposal would keep private insurance – Bernie Sanders’ plan would abolish it, which would be Not Very Good for health insurance companies.

The self-help guru and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson is not happy about last night’s results. Early this morning she described Joe Biden’s Super Tuesday performance as the result of “a coup”.

Williamson endorsed Bernie Sanders in February, and has some advice for any fellow supporters feeling disappointed today.

Bernie Sanders has pumped out a cheeky ad this morning linking himself to Barack Obama.

“Bernie is somebody who has the virtue of saying exactly what he believes. Great authenticity, great passion, and is fearless,” Obama intones in the campaign advert, over video of the former president palling around with Sanders.

The ad, which has some suspect audio-editing – take a look around the 24 second mark – scans rather like an endorsement from Obama... who is yet to endorse anyone in the race.

Ps – this is Adam Gabbatt taking over from Paul Owen, hello!

Forgive and forget doesn’t really seem to be in Trump’s vocabulary. Here’s how he greeted the news that his former attorney general Jeff Sessions failed to win back his Alabama Senate seat in one fell swoop and will instead face a run-off:

You can refamiliarise yourself with the contents of the Mueller report here.

One of America’s most enthusiastic political commentators has swung in with his early-morning take on the Super Tuesday results.

Donald Trump continued with his attempts to make the case that the Democratic establishment is ganging up to deny Bernie Sanders the nomination – a suspicion shared by many of Sanders’ supporters.

In my view Trump needs to be careful how far he goes portraying Bernie as a valiant outsider. If Sanders becomes the nominee, Trump may find he has lost his edge as the one candidate intent on smashing the system.

Trump then moves more into gossip-mag territory ...

Elizabeth Warren must also be considering her future, especially after coming third in her home state of Massachusetts.

But her campaign was certainly putting on a brave face last night, firing out a bullish email that said: “Here’s the bottom line: There are six more primaries just one week away, and we need your help to keep up the momentum.”

The email adds: “Six more states are voting a week from today on March 10. Can you chip in now as results are coming so we can get to work earning more votes and more delegates?”

According to Politico, the mood in her campaign is “bleak”, however.

The campaign also has financial constraints that come with a unionized staff of over 1,000 people — the largest field operation in the race besides Mike Bloomberg’s — even after raising $29 million in February. With a payroll at over $6 million per month, the campaign likely needs to keep at least several million dollars on hand to cover paychecks, benefits, and other assorted shutdown costs to avoid going into debt. Warren was able to raise a significant amount of that money with her strong debate performances, but there is not another debate until March 15.

Axios has more on what Bloomberg might do today as he licks his wounds following last night’s ultra-expensive electoral flop.

Look for Bloomberg to drop out as soon as this morning, and try to save face by promising to spend a helluva lot more to defeat President Trump with someone other than him.

Bloomberg returned to New York after speaking in West Palm Beach last night. Sources expect him to address staff at his headquarters today.

He doesn’t want history to remember him as the spoiler who helps Sanders win the nomination, or hands re-election to Trump.

Maine is the last state to due to be called by AP. With 81% reporting, Biden is ahead by a whisker with 34% to Sanders’ 33%. The state has only 24 delegates up for grabs though.

Meanwhile people are still voting in California and Texas, which have been plagued by long lines and delays. In California and Texas anyone in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Texas is nearly there with 93% of the vote reported. Biden has been declared the winner by the Associated Press – the gurus in this field – with 34% to Sanders’ 30%.

In California, only 43% of the vote has been counted, but the AP also called that race due to the size of Sanders’ lead. So far he’s ahead with 31% to Biden’s 22%. Sanders’ success in California – which with 415 delegates is by far the largest state voting last night (and generally) – means he remains in contention for the nomination. So far the AP estimates he has 382 delegates in total to Biden’s 453.

The US has an ongoing problem with long lines on polling day – much of it linked to deliberate voter suppression. The Guardian reported yesterday that Texas leads the US south in closing down the most polling stations.

Oliver Laughland has just left the Texas Democratic party headquarters in Austin after a long night, just as Joe Biden declared a major victory for his campaign there.

Texas is the second largest state to vote on Super Tuesday with 228 pledged delegates at stake here.

It’s worth noting that while Biden has been declared the victor this evening, it’s the margin of victory that really matters as that will determine (via a number of complicated processes) just how many delegates Biden picks up.

The executive director of the Texas Democrats, Manny Garcia came to give us (and by us I mean the last three reporters left in the building) a quick briefing before he headed home. He said he expects the delegate count to be declared early Wednesday afternoon as the party waits for full results to come in from Texas’s 254 counties, all of which administer their own elections here.

Garcia also spent a significant amount of time addressing the long lines at various polling stations throughout the state, an issue that could come to plague the party at the general election, where the party see a small opportunity to make this deep red state competitive.

In a statement the party hailed the high turnout that characterized this primary, but argued the long lines - some of which left voters queuing past 11pm - underline the need for state electoral reform.

“We need major improvements across the board: more resources to assist county and state elections officials and increased access to voting. This year will see the highest turnout in Texas history with millions of new voters casting their ballots. We cannot have these long waits happen again in November,” the statement says.

Joe Biden declared victory in Texas, even though the AP has not yet called the state.

The former vice president celebrated the Texas results in a tweet that parodied the logo of the popular burger chain Whataburger, where Biden stopped with former rival-turned-endorser Beto O’Rourke last night:

With about 77% of Texas precincts reporting, Biden currently leads Bernie Sanders by about 3 points and 60,000 votes.

Looking ahead to the next contests: six states will hold primaries next Tuesday, March 10.

Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington will head to the polls and collextively award 352 pledged delegates.

It could be a good night for Bernie Sanders, considering he won Idaho, Michigan, North Dakota and Washington in 2016.

But a new poll showed Sanders falling nearly 7 points behind Joe Biden in Michigan, the most delegate-rich state holding a primary next week.

Bernie Sanders is also losing a key argument for his candidacy tonight: that he can increase turnout more than any of his competitors.

The state of Virginia, where Joe Biden won decisively, offered a harsh reality check on Sanders’ talking point tonight.

Virginia has been viewed as a crucial swing state in recent years, but it has become increasngly Democratic as the state’s DC suburbs lean more to the left.

Tonight, the turnout in Virginia was nearly double that of the 2016 Democratic primary between Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

The result of that increased turnout? Sanders lost to Biden by about 30 points.

Joe Biden’s team pointed to his victories tonight as evidence of his popularity among Democratic voters.

When asked how the former vice-president had managed to win in states he had paid almost no attention to, like Tennessee, deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield told CNN, “It is the power of Joe Biden. It is the fact that people know him.”

On the flip side, Biden’s success tonight raises questions about the effectiveness of Mike Bloomberg’s massive advertising spending and Elizabeth Warren’s vast field organization:

The blog has already covered how Joe Biden’s senior aide, Symone Sanders, won Twitter praise for jumping up to confront an anti-dairy protester who ran onto the stage tonight as the former vice president addressed supporters in Los Angeles.

But it should be noted that former second lady Jill Biden also confronted one of the protesters who rushed the stage, as the below photo vividly demonstrates.

The incident may have sparked some viral tweets, but it also raised concerns about whether top presidential candidates, like Biden and Bernie Sanders, need Secret Service protection.

Some voters in Texas have been waiting for five hours to cast their ballots, as the state’s primary remains too close to call.

Long lines at polling places are often celebrated as a sign of voter enthusiasm, but a number of Democratic strategists pointed out they are also a clear sign of voter suppression.

From a former National Security Council spokesman for Barack Obama:

Former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, who has endorsed Bernie Sanders, described tonight’s results as a “coup” in a now-deleted tweet.

Some of Sanders’ allies have complained about moderate Democrats’ efforts to consolidate their support around Joe Biden in recent days.

Speaking to supporters in Vermont earlier tonight, Sanders pledged to take on the “political establishment” as the party’s nominee, but there’s no question that Biden’s wins tonight have dealt a serious blow to Sanders’ presidential ambitions.

The Guardian’s Maanvi Singh reports from San Francisco:

The mood has been a bit confused here in San Francisco. At Manny’s – a local bar and gathering place - many patrons cheered as soon as it became clear that Bernie Sanders would win the state.

But some Sanders supporters felt uneasy. “I’m a little bit disappointed and nervous,” said Delia Cleveland, 40. “I’d hoped he’d have a bigger lead.”

Kyle Schmolze, 30, said he was feeling “all the emotions”.

“I feel better about progressive politics than I’ve ever felt in my life,” he said. “We might actually win.”

But Joe Biden’s wins didn’t feel good, he said. “It’s terrifying. I’d feel safe had Bernie dominated.”

Joe Biden has taken a narrow lead in Texas, where 228 pledged delegates are up for grabs.

With 63% of precincts reporting, Biden is at 30%, leading Bernie Sanders by 1 point and about 18,000 votes.

Those numbers indicate the final result in Texas could be quite close, so Biden may not get much of a delegate advantage over Sanders from the state.

On the other hand, California, the most delegate-rich state of the night, was immediately called for Sanders once polls closed, so he could have a significant delegate edge over Biden there.

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar appeared to criticize Elizabeth Warren for not dropping out of the race as Joe Biden notched several victories in Super Tuesday states:

Omar, one of the four progressive congresswomen known as “the Squad”, is a top surrogate for Bernie Sanders, and Warren will likely face increasing calls from his supporters to suspend her campaign after tonight.

The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino reports from Los Angeles:

An ebullient Joe Biden bounded on stage in Los Angeles, accompanied by his wife, Jill, and his “little sister,” who he mixed up before quickly correcting himself.

“It’s a good night and it seems to be getting better,” Biden said. “They don’t call it Super Tuesday for nothing.”

At the start of his remarks, Biden ticked through all the states he’s won so far: Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Minnesota and “maybe even Massachusetts.” After he left the stage, the Associated Press declared Biden the winner in an upset over Elizabeth Warren.

“Just a few days ago the press and the pundits had declared the campaign dead. And then came South Carolina came around and they had something to say about it. And then when he got to Super Tuesday it’d be over. Well it may be over for the other guy.”

“We are very much alive,” he declared.

Biden thanked the former presidential candidates who endorsed him this week – Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Beto O’Rourke – but he did not mention any of his present rivals by name.

“People are talking about a revolution,” he said, taking an implicit jab at Bernie Sanders, who entered Tuesday as the prohibitive frontrunner. “Well, we started a movement.”

Protesters rushed the stage at Joe Biden’s event in Los Angeles, raising concerns about security for the leading presidential candidates.

Two anti-dairy protesters, who have disrupted other candidates’ events in recent days, ran on to the stage and had to be dragged off by some of Biden’s staffers.

Symone Sanders, one of Biden’s top aides, actually jumped from her seat to grab the second protester and pull her offstage.

Sanders won praise on social media for her courage, and she joked about the incident over Twitter:

But the incident raised questions about whether the top candidates like Biden and Bernie Sanders should start receiving Secret Service protection:

Here’s how the AP was able to call the California primary so quickly for Bernie Sanders:

News outlets conduct exit polls of voters to get a sense of which way a race is leaning.

If those exit polls point to a decisive victory, the outlet may declare a winner right when the polls close. That’s what happened in South Carolina on Saturday, and we’ve seen it again tonight in states like Virginia and Vermont.

The fact that the AP, the outlet of record for elections, was able to call California so quickly for Sanders indicates the Vermont senator will likely have a significant margin of victory in the delegate-rich state.

Bernie Sanders’ victory in California marks an incredible comeback for the Vermont senator, who lost the state to Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Clinton defeated Sanders in California by 7 points in 2016, giving her a 33-delegate advantage in the state.

However, even that single-digit margin was better than Sanders’ team had initially expected. Early results showed Clinton easily defeating Sanders by double digits.

Exit polls indicate Bernie Sanders has about a 15-point lead in California, the most delegate-rich state of the entire Democratic primary.

If Sanders can maintain that lead, it will help him to counteract the post-South Carolina bounce that Joe Biden has clearly been enjoying tonight.

However, it will be days if not weeks before we know Sanders’ exact margin of victory because California has a slow vote-reporting operation, due to its large size and high rates of early voting.

The Guardian’s David Smith reports from Charlotte, North Carolina:

Democratic Congresswoman Alma Adams was celebrating at a watch party for Joe Biden supporters in Charlotte, North Carolina, where each state victory was greeted with cheers.

Asked why African American supporters back Biden so strongly, Adams said: “First of all, we know Joe. We know we share his vision. We trust him and that’s the thing. We know that he’s always been a Democrat so we don’t have to wonder about where he really is in terms of party affiliation and that kind of thing.

“I think it’s a matter of trust and knowing that he has the skill set to do what we need for him to do. We trust him, we love him and so that’s why we vote for him.”

Adams was critical of Bernie Sanders’ attempts to engage with the African American community. “He doesn’t have the same voice or vision for our folks. I don’t know how much work he’s done in the African American community but I’ll tell you, he’s been in my district twice that I know about and no one from his campaign ever called me.

“He never called me and I am the congresswoman for this district. That’s certainly not a good look.”

The Guardian’s Mario Koran reports from San Diego:

Like many California cities, San Diego has in recent years been losing its black residents, who now make up just 6.5% of the population.

But in Southeast San Diego, a historically black part of the city, a steady stream of voters strolled into their polling place at the Malcolm X Library Tuesday afternoon.

After a strong showing in South Carolina, observers have been watching to see if Joe Biden can capitalize on the victory and garner support of black voters.

As I talked to voters trickling in to cast their ballots, however, no noticeable groundswell emerged in support of any of the candidates.

Bakir, an area resident, said he wasn’t excited about any of the Democratic options.

“At this point, it’s more about who you take out than who you put into the White House,” Bakir said, referring to Trump.

Joel Pagan, 38, was still undecided. He considered Mike Bloomberg, but says he’s now thinking Biden.

“I’m leaning toward Joe,” says Joel Pagan, 38. “I’m looking for the candidate who will do the most for the black community.”

Bloomberg picked up a surprise endorsement from the area’s assemblywoman, Shirley Weber, a Democratic who’s pushed fiercely for accountability for police and schools.

Despite the stop-and-frisk policies Bloomberg implemented as mayor of NYC — a record that’s been roundly criticized — Weber told the San Diego-Union Tribune that she was impressed with his “Greenwood Initiative,” a plan that would lead to a million black homeowners and 100,000 new black-owned businesses in the next 10 years.

Trump’s reelection campaign released a statement saying the Super Tuesday results will create “more chaos” for Democrats.

“The results only increase the likelihood that no candidate will have enough delegates for a first ballot victory at their convention, which only means more chaos!” said campaign manager Brad Parscale.

The president’s campaign also sought to equate Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, even though the two differ on a number of key policy issues.

Even if Bernie is not on November’s ballot, his big government socialist ideas will be because they have become mainstream in today’s Democrat Party,” Parscale said.

The Guardian’s Lois Beckett reports from Fresno, California:

Erica Sanchez, 48, and her mother, Maria Sanchez, 68, both voted for Joe Biden today in Fresno, California, a diverse city of half a million people in California’s Central Valley.

Their vote for Biden was a vote for “normalcy,” Maria said. “He’s been there before,” Erica said. “He knows how to get the job done.”

Maria and Erica, both themselves blunt talkers, said they like Biden’s frankness. They feel that they can trust him, that he has integrity. Many people in their family have served and are currently serving overseas in the US military, which they said is more than either Trump or his own children have done. Maria’s parents were Mexican immigrants, farmworkers. Erica said she also has Native American ancestry.

The past three years, since Trump’s election, have brought a level of tension and division to the United States that Erica said seems like worst the country has seen since the Civil War. They both want that to be over, and to have a president who can heal the country.

Erica’s 24-year-old daughter is a Bernie Sanders supporter, but her two sons, who are both in their 20s, had been talking about following their grandmother’s lead, and voting for Biden, Erica said.

Trump is reveling in Mike Bloomberg’s disappointing performance tonight, saying the former New York mayor had thrown hundreds of millions of dollars “down the drain.”

Trump and Bloomberg have repeatedly sparred over social media, trading insults about each other’s height and intelligence.

But it is undeniable Bloomberg has severely underperformed tonight, and the billionaire candidate reportedly intends to reassess his campaign tomorrow.

The Guardian’s Maanvi Singh reports from San Francisco:

At a watch party in San Francisco, the gasps and shrieks cut through the din as results from Colorado, Vermont and Texas come in.

At Manny’s, a bar and event space in San Francisco’s Mission district, the crowd skews progressive. Many of the patrons are carrying Bernie Sanders placards — and donning Sanders swag.

Joe Biden’s successes in the south and east, where polls have already closed have worried many of the Sanders supporters here.

“I’m a little anxious,” said Christina Lopez, 28. “But it’s early. There’s hope.”

Lopez was initially an Elizabeth Warren supporter but cast her ballot for Sanders when it became clear he was a front runner. “It was strategic,” she said. “I hope Warren votes don’t cost him a sweep here.”

Chants of “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!” broke out as Sanders’ speech from Colorado blared though Bars sound system.

Ilona Pelaez, 29, said she’d vote for Biden in the general if it came down to it. “I guess I kind of have to,” she said. “But it sucks.”

Joe Biden will undoubtedly see a fundraising bump from his victories tonight, and one of his donors may come as a bit of a surprise.

George Conway, who is married to senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, tweeted that he had donated the individual maximum to Biden.

Conway has been a frequent critic of the president, even though his wife works for him, and he has now apparently joined Team Biden.

The Guardian’s Lois Beckett reports from Fresno, California:

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything as perfectly, beautifully American as the drive-thru polling station today in downtown Fresno, California.

Just pull your car up to the polling station, hand over your (already filled-in) ballot, get your “I voted” sticker, and then cruise away.

And yes, you actually have to have filled out your ballot already – you don’t get a fresh one in line and vote in your car.

It’s a ballot drop-off Drive Thru, not a full service, polling-station-in-your-car. Still, it’s pretty fun to watch.

And voters like it, too. “This is so cool!” I heard one woman exclaim from her car.

Poll worker Holly Brown said the downtown Fresno drive-thru I visited was one of ten total in Fresno County, in California’s Central Valley. (Other counties in California have “Drive-up Democracy” as well.)

Brown said she had been setting up at that drive-thru location since 5.30am, and that their location had been steadily busy since the polls opened – not crowded, but consistent traffic even through the middle of the day. In all, she said, they had collected more than 3,000 drive-thru ballots, and counting, just at that location.

And voters really want that “I voted” sticker, she said – even if they don’t have to get out of their cars.

The Guardian’s Sam Levine and Oliver Laughland report:

Texas voters in some parts of the state waited in extremely long lines Tuesday, some for several hours, to cast a ballot in the state’s primary elections.

Even after polls officially closed Tuesday, the website for the Travis County Clerk showed wait times as long as two hours at the University of Texas at Austin. Voters can cast a ballot as long as they remain in line.

At one location on campus, students had been waiting in line for more than an hour. A pollworker said 2,200 people had voted there that day. The last student in line to vote was Sam Oh, a senior studying mechanical engineering.

“I planned this out,” said Oh, who had been waiting an hour and a half. “But definitely this kind of a wait will keep people away.”

In Harris County, home of Houston, civil rights groups said minority voters faced excessively long wait times. One voter, Ahmed King, went to five different voting locations before he successfully cast a ballot, according to a statement from the Texas Civil Rights Project.

“I was at the point of not voting at all. I was at my limit. I said to myself, ‘My vote will not count today,’” King said in a statement.

The Guardian’s Dominic Rushe reports from a Bernie Sanders watch party in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:

Though Pennsylvania isn’t voting in its own primary until April, about 100 people turnout out here for the viewing party in East Liberty.

It was the sort of mixed crowd any of the candidates would kill for – young and old, racially diverse, and everyone with a really upbeat energy. The music is definitely more boomer though - they just played Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A Changin’.

One of the organisers Susan Sanders (no relation to the candidate), says people in Pittsburgh are more pro-Sanders now than they were in 2016, when he lost the primary to Hillary Clinton: “The fire is definitely hotter, just look at this crowd.”

Given Joe Biden’s strong start on Super Tuesday, the Sanders supporters were worrying that Biden could be handed the nomination at the Democratic national convention in July – though there is still a very long way to go before then.

“Everyone in this room will be devastated if that happens,” said Fatima Aslan, 23.

It’s still early in the night, and the two biggest prizes -- California and Texas -- have not yet been called.

That being said, early results indicate Joe Biden may have done what no other candidate could: recreate the Obama coalition.

From Cory Booker’s former campaign manager:

The Guardian’s Abené Clayton reports from Richmond and Oakland in California:

In Oakland and Richmond, two San Francisco Bay Area cities with majority Black and Latino populations, voters appeared split between frontrunners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

Some worry that Sanders’ signature policies, such as student debt elimination and wealth taxes, can be “too radical” for more moderate voters outside of the Bay Area to stomach in November.

“If Bernie is the candidate, you’ll have presidential candidates that represent two extremes,” 26-year-old Andrea Rodriguez said on her way into a Richmond polling location.

Other Biden California supporters say that they feel more comfortable with the former vice president because he understands the inner workings of Capitol Hill.

“Biden has White House experience; he knows how to play the game. Bernie hasn’t had his foot in the game yet,” said 55-year-old Troy Williams of Richmond.

Still, Sanders supporters argue they are voting in the interest of “whoever’s gonna help the most marginalized,” not for the person who can convert the most swing state voters.

“Think of the future and what you would want your kids to have,” 31-year-old student Caitlin Culman said. “Because they won’t have as good a quality of life as the previous generations and moderates won’t help that.”

The Guardian’s Lois Beckett reports from Manteca, California:

Towns in California’s Central Valley often don’t get a lot of love from presidential candidates. When Pete Buttigieg visited the area earlier this year, a local Democratic congressman complained, “This is the first time for many people in this room to have ever seen a presidential contender.”

But in Manteca, a Central Valley town divided between registered Democrats, Republicans, and independents, according to the Manteca Bulletin, Democratic voters who showed up to the polls in the early afternoon reflected some of the divides within the party.

Carolyn and David Croyle walked out of their polling place in Manteca together, but the married couple, both Democrats, had chosen different candidates. Carolyn had voted for Bernie Sanders, David for Elizabeth Warren.

Carolyn Croyle said she supports Sanders because of his ideas, particularly on healthcare, and because “he gets the young people out,” which Democrats need. Sanders “gets people excited, and you don’t see that with [Joe] Biden.”

David Croyle said he had once been a Republican, and had voted for George W. Bush, though not enthusiastically, before then voting for Barack Obama. Now, he’s interested in voting for someone who can defeat Donald Trump. He sees Warren as presidential, and “a little less demagogue-y” than Sanders, but knows she’s under pressure to quit the race.

“I will vote for a bucket of rocks over Trump,” he said.

Also in Manteca, in California’s Central Valley, Elizabeth Grant, 85, explained why she cast her vote for Biden: “Because I like him. I think he’s an upstanding person.”

Mike Bloomberg’s campaign has put out a rather vague statement on the future of his candidacy.

“Tonight, only one-third of delegates will be allotted,” campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said. “As Mike said tonight, ‘No matter how many delegates we win tonight, we have done something no one else thought was possible. In just three months, we’ve gone from just 1% in the polls to being a contender for the Democratic nomination.’

“Our number one priority remains defeating Donald Trump in November.”

Bloomberg delivered a similar message moments ago at his campaign rally in West Palm Beach, Florida. But as early results show the former New York mayor underperforming in states where he spent tens of millions of dollars, pressure is mounting for Bloomberg to bow out of the race.

The Guardian’s Sam Levin reports from Los Angeles:

At Skid Row, the epicenter of the homelessness crisis in LA, voters living in shelters and on the street are able to cast ballots inside the Union Rescue Mission.

Kevin Wilkerson, 52, who lives at the shelter, said he was a “bona fide Joe Biden fan”: “He got a surge in South Carolina and now everybody is saying, ‘I’m gonna stand by Joe.’ This is how we win. We can’t go too far left, we have to come down in the middle.”

He said he never misses a chance to vote: “My ancestors fought tooth and nail for my rights. People were killed so that I’m able to vote in 2020.”

Rocio Martinez, 51-year-old living on Skid Row for nearly four years, said she was a registered Republican, but voted for Bernie Sanders: “I’m Hispanic and I’m not happy with Trump’s philosophy of immigration. It’s cruel.” She said she has struggled to get a job that pays well enough to get her stable housing.

Yolanda Green, 56, who lives at the Downtown Women’s Center at Skid Row, also voted for Sanders: “He’s for the American people. He talks about healthcare. He talks about brown and black people. He says everyone is created equal. .. It felt great to vote. I always do. My mother said every vote counts. You gotta get out to vote to weed out the bad president.”

The Guardian’s Richard Luscombe reports from Mike Bloomberg’s (very short) rally in West Palm Beach, Florida:

Barely 10 minutes after taking the stage in West Palm Beach, Mike Bloomberg is done, after delivering a largely flat address to supporters, perhaps reflecting the dawning reality that things are not going the way he had hoped on Super Tuesday, and that a big decision for his campaign is now looming.

“As the results come in, here’s what is clear,” Bloomberg said. “No matter how many delegates we win tonight we’ve done something no-one else thought was possible. We’ve gone from one percent in the polls to being a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.”

The rest of Bloomberg’s short speech was standard campaign stump, attacks on Donald Trump, policy promises on a range of issues from healthcare to immigration to gun reform, but it he gave the impression that his heart wasn’t really in it. Supporters were streaming towards the doors within seconds of him wrapping up.

Campaign manager Kevin Sheekey told reporters earlier: “Absolutely not” when asked if Bloomberg would drop out tonight. But the odds of that now happening sooner than later appear much shorter as the Super Tuesday picture becomes clearer.

The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino reports from Joe Biden’s Super Tuesday event in Los Angeles:

It’s 70 degrees with a gentle breeze at golden hour in Los Angeles – the picture perfect backdrop to what is already a very good night for Joe Biden.

Outside his outdoor election night event at a downtown recreation center, located off of Obama Blvd., a line of supporters began to wrap around the building. An aide appeared to announce that North Carolina had just been called for Biden. Cheers rang out and two women, carrying California for Biden signs, began to dance.

“I love my Joe,” she said to no one in particular.

Polling had showed Bernie Sanders far ahead in California, but in a sign of how fluid the race remains after Biden’s rout in South Carolina, many Democrats appear to have waited until the last minute to make up their minds. That indecision could prove decisive for Biden, especially in delegate-rich states like California and Texas.

The schedule of tonight’s voting has put Bernie Sanders at a bit of a disadvantage, as Joe Biden performs well in southern states.

Sanders is predicted to do well in western states like Colorado, Utah and California, which is the biggest prize of the night.

But those states’ polls close later, so much of tonight’s early coverage will be devoted to more eastern states, where Biden has already secured three decisive victories.

What this means is that many Americans will likely go to sleep tonight thinking Sanders only won his home state of Vermont, even if he performs well in the delegate-rich states of California and Texas.

The Guardian’s Maanvi Singh reports from San Francisco:

At Manny’s - a bar/bookstore/event space in San Francisco’s Mission district, people are anxiously sipping their wine and munching their crudités as they watch the first results and projections trickle in.

There are a number of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders supporters here — and many are fretting over whether the two candidates have spilt the progressive vote.

Stephenie Smith, 31, said she was torn until this morning. “Even though after a lot of conversations, I was kind of leaning toward Bernie, I voted for Warren today,” she said. “I had such mixed feelings.”

She liked Warren a bit more — but ultimately supports both progressive candidates. “I’m a little disappointed at how well Joe is doing,” she said, as results from Virginia and North Carolina flashed on screen.

In a broad, rapidly shifting race, many California voters, especially those who voted early, are unsure of what to expect tonight.

The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland reports from Corsicana, Texas:

Navarro College, in Corsicana, Texas, became world famous this year after the success of the Netflix documentary Cheer, which followed the college’s champion cheerleading squad as they fought to defend their national title last year.

But on Super Tuesday, this community college is also home to one of the 20 polling stations in this small county of 48,000 people. On the morning of this critical vote in the Democratic primary race, in which Texas will play a major role in determining the nominee for president, the Guardian visited to gauge the mood.

There were no queues outside the voting booths at the campus’s Cook Center. Instead, the most frantic activity was a few hundred feet away at the college’s health centre, where the cheer squad’s now instantly recognizable head coach, Monica Aldama, was carrying a large cardboard box laden with red and black cheerleading uniforms.

“I have not voted yet,” Aldama said, nodding towards the polling station. “But I plan on doing it as soon as I’m done today.”

She would not say how she would cast her ballot, or whether she was voting in the Republican or Democratic primary. “I don’t really have a political affiliation,” she said. “I just go with a person that I’m interested in.”

The Guardian’s David Smith reports from Charlotte, North Carolina:

“Bullshit!” “No way! Already?” These were the cries at a watch party for Bernie Sanders supporters in Charlotte, North Carolina, when TV screens flashed the news that Joe Biden is projected to win the state.

“I kind of expected this,” sighed Sarah Lundin-Erickson, 46, standing near the bar. “It’s still conservative here.”

Kevin Gobuty, 28, agreed: “Kind of, yeah, it’s still North Carolina.”

Polls here had suggested a narrow lead for Sanders, but Biden’s resurgence in neighbouring South Carolina last Saturday gave him a boost. Gobuty added: “I’m disappointed. I’m a high school teacher. I teach a lot of kids at a low income school and am very worried about their future if Bernie Sanders doesn’t win.”

The late rush of endorsements for Biden was a major factor, Gobuty believes. “Absolutely. The establishment is doing the smart thing for the establishment and the moderates are coalescing around the moderate.”

But he added: “There’s a long road to the convention from here.”

Sanders supporters were drinking at a Tip Top Daily Market which, along with food and alcohol, sells vinyl records and had a DJ playing tracks such as Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”.

Lundin-Erickson, attending with her nine-year-old daughter, Suvi, said she voted for Sanders because of policies such as Medicare for all. “I lived in England once, working and paying taxes, and was able to get medical treatment there so it was something I’ve always wanted to see come to fruition in the States. But America is very capitalist.”

Mary Kate Finnigan, 33, a nurse practitioner, said: “Bernie’s campaign and his supporters are very grassroots. People feel so strongly about him and want to stand up for something radical.

“We’ll see how the media influences all of that. I am frankly surprised how Biden is doing so well. I don’t know how a country can elect someone like Trump and then think Bernie’s way isn’t possible.”

The Guardian’s Richard Luscombe reports from Mike Bloomberg’s rally in West Palm Beach, Florida:

Mike Bloomberg is preparing to take the stage in West Palm Beach to address supporters who are well refreshed by the range of luxurious free nibbles and sips on offer at his election night party, including goat’s cheese bites, mini-burgers, spinach flatbreads and a selection of beers and fine wines paid for by the billionaire’s expansive war chest.

It remains to be seen, however, if the former New York mayor’s $500m investment in his campaign for the White House will pay off.

Early results from states including Virginia and North Carolina were not looking good for the self-funded candidate, leaving some attendees and campaign workers here looking, and sounding, nervous. Not even Bloomberg’s win in American Samoa could lift a largely flat mood. CNN reported one Bloomberg adviser had admitted: “This isn’t going as planned.”

Giant screens in the auditorium of the Palm Beach convention center that had been showing rolling CNN coverage of the Super Tuesday voting since the doors opened at 6pm were switched instead to Bloomberg 2020 graphics and shots of the crowd, leaving his supporters with only their mobile phones to follow developments in other states.

Shortly after 8pm, long after Bloomberg’s early warm-up acts including the former mayors of Tampa and Miami Beach had come and gone, and with no sign yet of their man taking the podium, campaign assistants told reporters that Bloomberg was expected on stage by about 8.30pm, but warned that was “subject to change”.

Elizabeth Warren’s home state of Massachusetts is too close to call, but exit polls indicate a close three-way race between Warren, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.

If Warren cannot carry her home state, it could deliver a fatal blow to the senator’s struggling campaign.

On the other hand, Sanders had hoped Massachusetts would be a weak spot for his main opponent, Biden.

But exit polls indicate Biden is in the hunt for Massachusetts delegates, winning the majority of voters who made their decision in the past few days.

The Guardian’s Richard Luscombe reports from Mike Bloomberg’s rally in West Palm Beach, Florida:

Victoria Van Pelt was a Democratic delegate for Barack Obama in the 2012 election and loves Joe Biden, but thinks the vice president is too damaged by the impeachment scandal to be a viable candidate. So she is throwing her weight behind Mike Bloomberg.

“They eviscerated Joe Biden with this impeachment,” said Van Pelt, 78, from Delray Beach, Florida, as she queued to get into Bloomberg’s Super Tuesday rally in West Palm Beach. “The chief justice put his thumb on the scale.

“I wasn’t a Bloomberg person, I was a Biden person, but I don’t see Biden coming out of this after they destroyed his reputation. Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat, he is a socialist and I don’t think America is ready for that in a mainstream party.”

The mood of the crowd at the Palm Beach county convention center was buoyant ahead of the Super Tuesday results, notwithstanding the constant din from the motorcycles and pick-up trucks of the self-styled Trump Train, complete with flags and banner, constantly circling outside.

Other Bloomberg supporters are here for a variety of reasons. Adam Schoenfeld, 56, is a New Yorker now living in West Palm Beach, said Bloomberg had the Big Apple “running like a fine timepiece” when he was mayor from 2002 to 2013.

“He’s incorruptible and unlike the president is able to read and speak in a coherent manner,” he said.

Elementary school teacher Nicole Dedominicis admits to being undecided over who to support in Florida’s 17 March primary.

“I just want to hear what Bloomberg has to say. I’m from New York and I’m a moderate and he’s in my top two choices,” said Dedominicis, who came to the rally with her 15-year-old son Tim McBride, who has been studying civics at high school.

“I love history and to be part of this is something special,” said McBride, who is looking forward to casting his first vote in 2024.

Elizabeth Warren and Mike Bloomberg are struggling to hit viability in Virginia and North Carolina, according to exit polls.

The two candidates had hoped to clear the 15% threshold required to pick up delegates, even if they did not win either state.

But early results indicate a resounding victory for Joe Biden, while second-place Bernie Sanders easily cleared 15%.

The Guardian’s Daniel Strauss reports from Richmond, Virginia:

Immediately after polls closed, Virginia was called for former vice-president Joe Biden and Vermont was called for Senator Bernie Sanders.

Vermont was to be expected. It’s Sanders’ home state, and he won it handily in the 2016 Democratic primary.

But Biden’s victory is more notable. Virginia was called almost immediately after polls closed. Biden’s victory there suggests that more southern states are fertile ground for the former vice president to produce a victory.

Biden’s victory also means he has won a state with 99 delegates, more than some other Super Tuesday states.
Here in Richmond, some local Democrats had expected Biden to win handily.

Joe Biden said he felt “optimistic” about his chances after learning of his victory in Virginia.

“Feels good,” Biden told reporters in California of his Virginia win. “I don’t know what the actual results are, but it feels good and we’re optimistic. We’re going to do well in some other states as well.”

North Carolina’s polls close in just a few minutes, so stay tuned for more results.

Vermont exit polls indicate Joe Biden cleared the 15% threshold to win delegates in the state.

Bernie Sanders easily won his home state tonight and will collect the vast majority of Vermont’s 16 pledged delegates.

However, in 2016, Sanders was able to shut out Hillary Clinton from winning any of his state’s delegates.

It seems Sanders may not have achieved that tonight.

Joe Biden’s victory in Virginia spells trouble for Mike Bloomberg, who spent about $18 million in advertising there.

Bloomberg is counting on his $500 million campaign investment to propel him to delegate wins across the country tonight.

However, if Biden has secured a substantial victory in Virginia, that could indicate Bloomberg’s gamble has not paid off.

A huge roar has just gone up at Bernie Sanders’ Super Tuesday rally in his home town of Burlington, Vermont, with chants of “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!”.

There are no surprises of course in Sanders’ projected victory here. With a population of just 624,000, Vermont is small enough for Bernie to cut a giant figure in a state that he won in 2016 by a whopping 86% to Hillary Clinton’s 14%.

In Burlington itself he is even more familiar, as the Sanders’ headquarters are here and his distinctive head of white hair is frequently seen bobbing down Church Street in the town center. Everyone at the rally seems to know Sanders personally, or at least to have stories about him.

I just talked to Jim Clancy standing in the crowd. He has a memory from his childhood of his mother and Sanders bouncing up and down on a sofa in a Burlington furniture store comparing notes on how firm the piece was.

So that’s Vermont. But when I asked Clancy was that why he voted for Sanders today, because he is the home-boy candidate, he said not at all. “It’s his message. He relates to me. I’m gay, and Bernie started gay pride in Burlington in 1981 when it wasn’t all that common. He’s been consistent, and I like that - there are no surprises with Bernie.”

Exit polls show African-American voters in Virginia went for Joe Biden over Bernie Sanders by more than 40 points, which could indicate the former vice president is in for a very good night in southern states like Alabama and Tennessee.

Polls haven’t even closed yet in Super Tuesday states, but candidates are already looking ahead to the next contests.

Elizabeth Warren has just announced she will travel to Michigan, Arizona and Idaho this weekend.

Michigan and Idaho are both holding primaries next Tuesday, while Arizona’s voters will head to the polls on March 17.

Some Tennessee polling places are staying open later because of the tornadoes that swept through earlier today.

The Tennessean reports:

A Davidson County judge Tuesday afternoon ruled that polls can remain open until 8 p.m. CT at all sites across Nashville.

Polls were originally set to close at 7 p.m. CT. Five polling sites will remain open until 10 p.m. CT. ...

The ruling came at the request of four of the top Democratic presidential campaigns, along with the Tennessee Democratic Party. The groups filed suit in a Nashville court on Tuesday to extend poll times amid heavy tornado damage throughout the city.

At least 25 people have been killed as a result of the storms, and hundreds of buildings in the state have been destroyed.

The biggest prize tonight is California, which has 415 pledged delegates up for grabs.

Bernie Sanders is favored to win the state, but the margin of his potential victory will be crucial in determining whether the Vermont senator can secure a substantial delegate lead coming out of Super Tuesday.

However, it will likely take days if not weeks to determine the exact margin of victory in California because of the state’s size and robust early voting operation.

The LA Times explains:

Even if a presidential candidate is declared the ‘winner’ of the California primary this week (or month), we probably won’t know how many delegates that or other candidates won until county election officials complete their vote counts and audits in April.

For political nerds who will be closely following tonight’s returns, the Times offers this advice: “don’t stay up for California results on Tuesday.”

Early exit polls indicate a signficant portion of Super Tuesday voters made their decision in the past few days, which could be good news for Joe Biden.

According to the CNN exit polls, nearly half of Virginia voters said they made their decision in the past few days, and nearly 3 in 10 North Carolina voters said the same.

Those late-stage decisions could be beneficial to Biden, who won the South Carolina primary by nearly 30 points on Saturday and has since been endorsed by former rivals Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar.

Virginia’s polls close in about an hour, and North Carolina’s polls close in an hour and a half, so we’ll soon see how real the “Biden bump” is.