Former Vice President Joe Biden saw his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination roar back to life last night during the Super Tuesday primary contests across the country.
Biden handily won throughout the South (Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia), scored a big come-from-behind win in Texas, and scored surprise victories in Minnesota, Maine, and Massachusetts.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) claimed victory in his home state of Vermont, as well as Utah, Colorado, and Utah.
California hasn’t officially been called yet although the New York Times estimates Sanders to come out on top in delegate-rich California.
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg spent nearly $600 billion in Super Tuesday states and American territories but only came out on top in American Samoa. He dropped out of the race this morning and endorsed Biden.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), briefly the front-runner last fall, didn’t notch a single win.
An NBC News exit poll showed LGBTQ Americans made up 9 percent of the Democratic voters in the Super Tuesday contests. That’s a high percentage considering a 2018 Gallup survey estimated 4.5 percent of American adults identify as LGBTQ.
The NBC survey, conducted in 12 of the 14 Super Tuesday states, also indicated that 42 percent of those LGBTQ voters cast their ballot for Sanders, and 22 percent supported Warren.
Biden garnered 19 percent of the LGBTQ vote, and Bloomberg picked up 6 percent.
Even though former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race on Sunday night, he still received 6 percent of the queer vote due to early voting in several states.
A report released by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law last fall estimated there are nearly 9 million LGBTQ people registered to vote in the 2020 election.
In addition to the Democratic presidential race, several openly LGBTQ political hopefuls further down the ballot won their races on Super Tuesday as well.
According to the Victory Fund, Todd Gloria placed first in his primary and could become the first openly LGBTQ person elected mayor of San Diego, California’s second-largest city.
Gina Ortiz Jones also came out on top in her primary as she looks to become the first openly LGBTQ member of Congress from Texas. She narrowly lost her race in 2018 for the same congressional seat to Republican Rep. Will Hurd, but with his announced retirement, she will not be facing an incumbent this election cycle.
And Georgette Gomez advances from her primary in California in hopes of becoming the first openly LGBTQ Latina member of Congress.
