Joe Biden will win the Missouri Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, NBC News projects, setting him up to take another healthy chunk of delegates in his race with Bernie Sanders.
Missouri has 68 pledged delegates up for grabs. The former vice president will come away with at least 22 of them, while the Vermont senator will win 15 or more, according to NBC.
The projected win adds to Biden’s early success on a night when six states held Democratic nominating contests. The front-runner to face President Donald Trump will also win the Mississippi primary, NBC projected.
In its 2016 primary, Hillary Clinton won Missouri by a tight margin, garnering 50% of the vote to Sanders’ 49%. Four years ago, the Vermont senator won a majority of white voters even as black voters overwhelmingly favored Clinton, according to exit polls.
That changed Tuesday. While about seven-in-10 black voters chose Biden in Missouri, so did more than half of white voters, exit surveys found.
He also dominated among older Show Me State residents. A recurring problem for Sanders showed up again in the state: 18 to 29-year-olds made up only 12% of the electorate, down from 16% in 2016, according to exit polls.
Along with Missouri, Michigan, Idaho, Washington, Mississippi and North Dakota also voted Tuesday. Of those states, Michigan boasts the largest pledged delegate count, with 125 on the line.
The latest round of primaries came a week after Super Tuesday, during which Biden won surprise victories and eked out a pledged delegate lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii remains in the race, but the contest for the Democratic nomination has fallen largely between Biden and Sanders.
In the last two weeks, Biden has received a slew of highly coveted endorsements from his former Democratic rivals who have since dropped their 2020 bids. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, along with with Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California, endorsed him, citing him as the candidate best positioned to beat Trump in November.
