Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane OMeara Sanders vote at the Robert Miller Community & Recreation Center in Burlington,Vermont on March 3, 2020. Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
Vermont is among 14 states voting in the 2020 presidential primary on Super Tuesday. Sen. Bernie Sanders represents Vermont in the U.S. Senate and won his home state with 50 percent of the vote.
Former Vice President Joe Biden came in second place with 22 percent of the vote and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren came in third with 12 percent.
Polls closed at 7 p.m. EST in Vermont. Sanders gave a speech in Essex Junction, Vermont, around 10 p.m. EST and told his supporters: “I tell you with absolute confidence we’re going to win the Democratic nomination and we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of this country.”
Heavy has partnered with Decision Desk to show the live results of the Democratic primary in Vermont as they come in. Go here if you don’t see a results table below.
There Are 16 Delegates At Stake in Vermont
There are 14 states that vote on Super Tuesday and the U.S. territory of American Samoa, with a total of 1,344 delegates. Candidates need 1,991 to win the nomination to be the Democratic candidate to face President Donald Trump.
If a candidate does not reach 1,991 delegates, the Democratic National Convention will be contested. That means a second ballot will take place and both pledged and automatic delegates can vote this time. From then on, a candidate needs the majority of all delegates to win, which is more than 2,375 votes.
According to the Associated Press, Sanders won more than 85% of the Democratic primary vote in the race against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primary.
Bernie Sanders Held an Election Rally in Essex Junction, Vermont After the Polls Closed on Super Tuesday
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was in his home state on Super Tuesday. He cast his ballot in Burlington, Vermont, where he served as mayor before being elected senator. He told reporters on Tuesday that President Donald Trump is “the most dangerous president in the modern history of our country,” according to the Associated Press.
He said he wants to create a government “that works for all and not just the few.”
“We are putting together a multi-generational, multi-racial movement of people who are standing up for justice, and to beat Donald Trump, we are going to need to have the largest voter turnout in the history of this country,” he said. “We need energy. We need excitement. I think our campaign is that campaign.”
Sanders was predictably leading the polls going into the election. According to RealClear Politics, Sanders was leading with 57 percent of the vote, compared to 16 percent each for former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
“Thank you, Vermont!” Sanders told the crowd in Essex Junction at about 10 p.m. EST.
“It’s a funny thing,” he said. “Thirty one years ago today we won the mayoral race in Burlington, Vermont. And we won that race against all of the odds. Everybody said it couldn’t be done. And when we began this race for the presidency, everybody said it couldn’t be done but tonight I tell you with absolute confidence we’re going to win the Democratic nomination and we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of this country.”
The crowds began chanting “Bernie! Bernie!”
Sanders said he would provide every American “healthcare as a human right” and make “major reforms in education” and fight the “greed” of Wall Street, drug companies and the fossil fuel industry.
“We are going to defeat Trump because we are putting together an unprecedented grassroots multi-general, multi-racial movement,” he said.
There were still several states that had not been called when he gave his speech, but Sanders predicted that he would win California, which has 415 delegates. And he did. The Associated Press called the race for Sanders in California.
Sanders also predicted “the highest voter turnout in American political history.” He also took jabs at former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York CIty Mayor Mike Bloomberg in his Super TUesday speech, which lasted about 10 minutes. He thanked voters in Vermont and said: “Let’s go on to the White House.”