Former Vice President Joe Biden resoundingly won the Democratic presidential primary in Virginia Tuesday night. Statewide, Biden took more than 53 percent of votes with 99.6 percent of precincts reporting as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
In the City of Alexandria, Biden won 49.95 percent of the ballots cast. Sen. Elizabeth Warren took second place by a hair with 18.33 percent of votes; Sen. Bernie Sanders received 18.23 percent of the vote. This does not include provisional ballots.
In Fairfax County, Biden won 49.84 percent of the votes. Sanders won second place with 23.29 percent of votes and Warren took just 12.12 percent of votes.
Democrats react
Prominent Virginia Democrats were excited about Biden's decisive win.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine tweeted, "Proud to be #TeamJoe -- Virginians have spoken loud and clear, and the unmistakable message is that they are ready for Joe Biden's decency, character and experience in the White House."
"Let tonight's resounding Joe Biden victory in Virginia be a message to our party and the nation: The time has come to turn the [page] on chaos and division of the Trump era," Tweeted former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. "Virginia picks presidents. Tonight, we picked a man we know and trust, my friend Joe Biden. Onward."
Alexandria resident and Virginia Congressman Don Beyer said in a tweet responding to an early NPR News projection: "Well, that didn't take very long. Virginia is Joe Biden country!" Beyer attended a Super Tuesday results watch party at Java Grill in Old Town Alexandria with Biden's Virginia team, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, former First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe and others.
Virginia was one of the 14 states and 1 territory (American Samoa) participating in "Super Tuesday" — the single largest primary voting day in the United States.
Because of the speed at which campaigns operate, the ballot included some candidates who suspended their campaigns -- this includes Pete Buttigieg, who announced Sunday he was suspending his campaign after a poor performance in the South Carolina primary. Sen. Amy Klobuchar suspended her campaign Monday. Both threw their support behind Biden.
LOCAL RESULTS
In the City of Alexandria, Biden received almost 50 percent of votes cast. Results are preliminary and do not include provisional ballots.
Here's how the vote broke down in the City of Alexandria:
- Cory Booker - 36 votes, 0.09 percent of votes cast
- Julian Castro - 15 votes, 0.04 percent
- Bernie Sanders - 7,586 votes, 18.23 percent
- Elizabeth Warren - 7,628 votes, 18.33 percent
- Marianne Williamson - 17 votes, 0.04 percent
- Michael Bennet - 31 votes, 0.07 percent
- Joseph R. Biden - 20,782 votes, 49.95 percent
- Amy Klobuchar - 343 votes, 0.82 percent
- Tulsi Gabbard - 246 votes, 0.59 percent
- Deval Patrick - 11 votes, 0.03 percent
- Pete Buttigieg - 583 votes, 1.4 percent
- Andrew Yang - 65 vote, 0.16 percent
- Tom Steyer - 22 votes, 0.05 percent
- Michael Bloomberg - 4,243 votes, 10.2 percent
To see results from your specific polling location in the City of Alexandria, click here.
In Alexandria, absentee voting started in mid-January. Absentee ballots were due by 7 p.m. Tuesday. Absentee voters in the City gave Biden 21.04 percent of votes, losing to Warren, who received 21.29 percent of absentee ballots. Bloomberg came in third at 17.03 percent. In-person votes on Super Tuesday revealed a significant shift in political fortunes.
Here are results from Fairfax County with 99.6 percent of precincts reporting:
- Cory Booker - 210 votes, 0.09 percent of votes cast
- Julian Castro - 108 votes, 0.04 percent
- Bernie Sanders - 56,633 votes, 23.29 percent
- Elizabeth Warren - 29,463 votes, 12.12 percent
- Marianne Williamson - 112 votes, 0.05 percent
- Michael Bennet - 199 votes, 0.08 percent
- Joseph R. Biden - 121,201 votes, 49.84 percent
- Amy Klobuchar - 1,873 votes, 0.77 percent
- Tulsi Gabbard - 1,786 votes, 0.73 percent
- Deval Patrick - 37 votes, 0.02 percent
- Pete Buttigieg - 2,653 votes, 1.09 percent
- Andrew Yang - 756 votes, 0.31 percent
- Tom Steyer - 137 votes, 0.06 percent
- Michael Bloomberg - 28,011 votes, 11.52 percent
To see results from your specific polling location in Fairfax County, click here.
Health care, 'electability' key issues
Among Virginia voters surveyed by CNN, healthcare and "electability" were the top factors for voters as they considered their options.
Only the Democrats running for president were on the ballot on Tuesday. The primaries for U.S. House and Senate in Virginia will take place on June 9.
Virginia is one of the unique states that allows any registered voter to participate in the presidential primary. That means you may have seen your Republican and Independent neighbors at the polls on Tuesday.
It also puts Virginia in an interesting political situation along with several other states: Republicans and Independents have a say in who runs against Republican President Donald J. Trump. Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts (only unaffiliated voters), Minnesota, North Carolina (only independents), Oklahoma (only independents), Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Vermont also have open primaries.
Republican reaction
Tuesday evening, the Republican Party of Virginia released the following statement:
"Today, Virginia Democrats selected Joe Biden to ultimately lose to Donald Trump on November 3, 2020. Biden's win comes on the heels of endorsements from former VP candidate and current VP loser Tim Kaine and Democratic Party of Virginia shadow-Chairman Terry McAuliffe.
President Trump's agenda has made America a better place for all people," said RPV Chairman Jack Wilson. "Minority unemployment is at all time lows, women's unemployment is at the lowest level since 1953, and there have never been better opportunities for the youth of this country. Biden and the rest of the Democrats want to destroy all of the accomplishments this administration has made, but we won't let that happen. We made America great again in 2016 and we're going to keep it great in 2020."
Who was the projected winner?
The campaigns that remain active (in alphabetical order) are those of:
- Former Vice President Joe Biden
- Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg
- U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
- Sen. Bernie Sanders
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Links above go to each candidate's official campaign website.
The Alexandria Dems conducted a straw poll recently showing a strong win by former Vice President Joe Biden. The Fairfax County Democratic Committee saw a straw poll win by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. A straw poll earlier in February by the Mount Vernon Dems also put Bloomberg in first place.
A poll from Feb. 18 resulted in a virtual tie between Biden, Bloomberg and Sanders.
