Biden Wins Arizona Primary Capping a Three-State Sweep

Former Vice President Joe Biden wins the Arizona Democratic primary, capping a sweep of contests in three states on Tuesday.

The race was quickly called for the former Vice President after Biden ran up a double-digit lead in Maricopa County, where over 60 percent of Arizonans reside. It also has the highest population of Hispanic voters in the state.

In Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, with 46% of the votes reported, Biden leads Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) 41-29%.

Sanders is currently leading in Coconino County which is home to large parts of the Navajo Nation, Hualapai Nation and Hopi Nation by 48-35% with 46% of precincts reporting.

Earlier in the night, Biden defeated Sanders in the Florida and Illinois Democratic primaries, giving the former Vice President an insurmountable delegate lead.

The Associated Press called the Illinois race for Biden shortly after the polls closed. With about 4 percent of precincts reporting, Biden had about 60 percent of the votes, compared with roughly 32 percent for Sanders.

Illinois has 155 delegates to award, the second-largest prize of the night.

Exit polls in Illinois showed beating President Trump was more important to them than having a candidate who agreed with them on the issues. 69% of them said Biden would have the better chance than Sanders to defeat the incumbent president

67 pledged delegates, the smallest prize of the night was at stake in Arizona. Biden had received 23 delegates, while Sanders was awarded 19. Major news outlets delegate projection showed Biden is leading Sanders 1,124 to 815.