Super Tuesday live updates: Health care is the biggest issue and voters don’t like Bloomberg

This is CNBC’s live blog covering everything that happens on Super Tuesday. We will update as news comes along. All times below are Eastern. Here’s what you need to know so far:

• Polls started opening at 6 a.m., and will start closing at 7 p.m. Fourteen states are voting.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders is the front-runner, but former Vice President Joe Biden is hoping momentum from his South Carolina primary victory Saturday will propel him to stronger results Tuesday.
• After starting with about two dozen candidates, the remaining Democratic field consists of Sanders, Biden, Mike Bloomberg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

In three states where exit polls asked how voters felt about a broad swath of candidates, Mike Bloomberg was by far the least popular. The figures followed polling in South Carolina, where voters overwhelmingly viewed him unfavorably.

Here’s how voters in three states answered when asked if they have a favorable or unfavorable view of Bloomberg:

• California: 30%-60% (every other candidate had a higher percentage of favorable than unfavorable ratings)
• Virginia: 38%-58% (only Klobuchar and Sanders had underwater favorability ratings, but by 1 percentage point, a much smaller margin than Bloomberg)
• Colorado: 41%-52% (every other candidate had a higher percentage of favorable than unfavorable ratings) – Pramuk

The first batch of exit polls in 12 of the 14 states holding Democratic primaries Tuesday cast some light on what voters are considering when casting their ballots.

In all 12 of those states (data is not available yet for Arkansas and Utah), voters chose health care as their top concern among four issues. The other issues were climate change, income inequality and race relations.

The exit survey also asked this question: “How do you feel about replacing all private health insurance with a single government plan for everyone?” A majority of respondents in those dozen states said they support such a system.

Of course, some states felt stronger about the proposal than others. It’s been a central question in the race, as Sen. Bernie Sanders has championed a single-payer system and Joe Biden has criticized such a plan.

Here’s how those answers stacked up in every state, listed from the largest to smallest delegate haul.

California: 33% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 58%-35% support to oppose

Texas: 45% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 64%-33% support to oppose

 North Carolina: 43% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 55%-41% support to oppose

 Virginia: 43% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 52%-46% support to oppose

 Massachusetts: 40% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 52%-43% support to oppose

 Minnesota: 41% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 64%-34% support to oppose

 Colorado: 36% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 57%-36% support to oppose

 Tennessee: 43% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 55%-41% support to oppose

 Alabama: 46% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 53%-41% support to oppose

 Oklahoma: 48% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 54%-42% support to oppose

 Maine: 47% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 72%-27% support to oppose

 Vermont: 40% listed health care as the top issue

Government insurance plan: 75%-23% support to oppose

— Pramuk

The Tennessee Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Tuesday in order to extend the time polling centers are open in Davidson County, where a deadly tornado damaged numerous polling sites.

The state’s Democratic Party said in a press release obtained by CNBC that “More than 15 polling locations suffered electrical and structural damages,” and “hundreds” of voters were unable to vote at 7 a.m., when centers were scheduled to open. The party seeks a legal injunction against Davidson County’s election commission and Tennessee’s secretary of state, Tre Hargett, to keep the sites open an extra three hours.

The tornado ripped through Tennessee, killing more than 20 people and destroying thousands of properties near the center of the state, including parts of Nashville. – Breuninger

The five states that will award the most delegates Tuesday will allocate 943 combined.They account for about 70% of the delegates up for grabs in the day’s contests.

Here are the recent polling leaders in those states, according to RealClearPolitics averages (note that many of the polls will not have accounted for Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar’s departure from the race, or Biden’s South Carolina primary win):

• California (415 delegates): Bernie Sanders, 35%, Joe Biden, 23%
• Texas (228 delegates): Sanders, 29.5%, Biden, 28%
• North Carolina (110 delegates) Biden, 36.7%, Sanders, 23.3%
• Virginia (99 delegates) Biden, 42%, Sanders, 24.5%
• Massachusetts (91 delegates): RealClearPolitics does not have an average listed for the state. However, the two most recent polls it tracked found a 2 percentage point-lead for Elizabeth Warren over Sanders, and a 2 percentage-point edge for Sanders over Warren. – Pramuk

President Trump pledged during his 2016 election campaign that he would appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would “automatically” overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion decision.

Four years later, Trump is seeking reelection, and his two appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, will determine whether that promise is kept.

On Wednesday, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh will hear arguments in the first major abortion case since either was confirmed to the bench. A decision is expected by the end of June, a month before Democrats are scheduled to convene in Wisconsin to formally select their presidential nominee. Read our preview here. – Tucker Higgins

President Trump on Tuesday afternoon continued to try to exploit divisions within the Democratic electorate over Bernie Sanders’ front-runner status. The president acknowledged Joe Biden’s gains in the polls, and accused Democrats of trying to snatch away Sanders’ lead in the primary.

“Biden has come up a little bit and I don’t know what’s happened with Bernie,” Trump said at the National Institutes of Health after a reporter asked him about Super Tuesday. “I think they’re trying to take it away from” Sanders, Trump added.

“I don’t know if that’s fair, but I guess it’s politics,” he said. “When you get right down to it, what’s fair?” – Breuninger

If Joe Biden hopes for success on Super Tuesday, his path will likely have to go through southern states following his blowout win in South Carolina over the weekend.

Biden’s aides have signaled to allies that there are hundreds of districts throughout states that have large concentrations of black voters, according to people familiar with the matter. Biden has repeatedly touted his relationship with black voters on the campaign trail. and that strong connection paid off in the Palmetto State. There, Rep. James Clyburn, the highest-ranking black lawmaker in the House, endorsed Biden. In turn, the former vice president was able to rack up a substantial amount of delegates and pull into second place overall just behind Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Biden is confident he’ll do well in Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas and North Carolina, these people added. Texas and Minnesota are also up for grabs, and Biden might be in a better position in both states than recent polling suggests. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota endorsed Biden. – Brian Schwartz

Joe Biden made a stop at the ButtercuP Diner in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday as he pushed to gain traction in the day’s most important state.

“My hopes are high. I think we’re going to do well on Super Tuesday,” he said, according to local station ABC7.

As Biden tries to consolidate the support of voters who do not support Bernie Sanders, he needs a strong showing in California to stop the Vermont senator from running away with the pledged delegate lead. Hitting the 15% threshold both statewide and in the state’s congressional districts will help him cut into Sanders’ delegate haul from the state.

Sanders has led recent polls of California, which awards 415 pledged delegates in its primary. – Pramuk

From the Trump campaign, a reminder that the president isn’t just taking aim at his Democratic rivals this year. The campaign on Tuesday sued the The Washington Post for defamation, citing two opinion articles published in 2019 about the campaign allegedly benefiting from Russian assistance.

The lawsuit came a week after the campaign sued The New York Times for defamation in connection with an op-ed entited “The Real Trump-Russia Quid Pro Quo.” Read our full story here. – Dan Mangan

Democratic megadonor Marc Lasry downplayed concerns about Joe Biden’s fundraising abilities on Tuesday, arguing this week was critical to the former vice president’s ability to stay in the primary. 

“I think he’s got enough money. A lot of it will depend over the next couple days,” the billionaire investor said on CNBC’s “Fast Money Halftime Report.” “If he does well in a number of these states he’ll get more money.”

Lasry, a part owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, had been supporting Sen. Kamala Harris, but opened up his donor network to Biden in December shortly after the California Democrat withdrew from the primary race. — Kevin Stankiewicz

Former FBI Director James Comey offered his endorsement to Joe Biden — and one of Biden’s campaign officials swiftly swatted it down.

“We need candidate who cares about all Americans and will restore decency, dignity to the office,” tweeted Comey, who was fired by Trump in May 2017 and has since become one of the president’s regular critics. “There is a reason Trump fears @JoeBiden and roots for Bernie,” Comey added with the hashtag #Biden2020.

Andrew Bates, Biden’s rapid response director, quickly replied to Comey’s tweet: “Yes, customer service? I just received a package that I very much did not order. How can I return it, free of charge?”

Bates did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the tweet.

Comey has come under fire from Democrats and Republicans since the 2016 election. Democrats have accused him of costing Hillary Clinton the presidency by announcing in a high-profile press conference that the FBI would investigate Clinton’s emails shortly before the election.

Republicans have attacked Comey as a biased public official who was working to undermine Trump by, among other things, taking notes on their private conversations. Special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate Russian interference in 2016, possible obstruction of justice by Trump, within a month after Trump fired Comey.

The primary may be looking more and more like a two-man race between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, but Mike Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren are still in the fight — as is Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who continues to campaign despite near-nonexistent poll numbers and a total lack of support from the party establishment.

You’d be forgiven for forgetting that Gabbard, a frequent guest on Fox News opinion shows but a no-show in the last five national debates, is still trying to become the Democratic nominee. Polling aggregates place Gabbard at 1% or less, well behind the three Democrats who dropped out of the race after the South Carolina primary. But she’s still running, and took her campaign to Austin, Texas, Monday night to rally supporters ahead of Super Tuesday. – Kevin Breuninger

Bernie Sanders may pitch himself as a unity candidate, but his presidential campaign has contributed to one notable breakup.

Legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy dumped co-founder and clock-wearing hype man Flavor Flav after a spat over the group’s appearance at the senator’s rally in Los Angeles on Sunday. Vaunted MC Chuck D and an offshoot known as Public Enemy Radio joined Sanders as he made his final push for Tuesday’s pivotal California primary.

Flavor Flav wasn’t believing the hype around Sanders. After the event, which the Sanders campaign promoted with the title of one of Public Enemy’s most famous songs, “Fight the Power,” Flavor Flav’s lawyer issued a cease and desist letter arguing the campaign used his client’s likeness without permission.

Public Enemy then issued a statement saying it was “moving forward” without its core member. A Twitter spat between Chuck D and Flavor Flav ensued. Early Monday, Chuck D wrote that his former bandmate will “NOT do free benefit shows,” adding that he “better find REHAB.”

Flavor Flav later shot back: “You wanna destroy something we’ve built over 35 years OVER POLITICS???” He went on to say that he has been “clean for 10 years,” adding that “you can’t fire me” and “there is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav.”

The group issued a statement late Monday saying it “did not part ways with Flavor Flav over his political views.” It wrote that the dispute over Sanders “was the last straw for the group” after the hype man missed several public appearances in recent years.

The statement concluded: “It’s time to move on and everyone wishes Flavor well.” – Pramuk

The Lone Star State will allocate 228 delegates, more than any state voting this week other than California (415). The huge and still growing Texas will test Bernie Sanders’ efforts to boost turnout among young and Latino voters, core parts of a coalition he hopes will propel him to the Democratic nomination and the White House. Carried to his first primary win by overwhelming support from black voters in South Carolina, Joe Biden hopes black voters in Texas and elsewhere Tuesday will help him keep pace with Sanders in the national delegate race. For more on the Texas primary, read our preview here. – Jacob Pramuk

Tuesday might end up doubly bad for Elizabeth Warren. Her presidential candidacy is hanging on by a thread and might be in worse shape if she underperforms in Super Tuesday primaries. Meanwhile in Washington, CNBC’s Tucker Higgins reports that the Supreme Court, which held oral arguments Tuesday, appeared likely to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren had envisioned the agency when she was a professor at Harvard. The CFPB, established in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, was designed to rein in abusive consumer financial practices by banks and other private institutions. – Calia

Both Bernie Sanders’ and Elizabeth Warren’s home states are holding their primaries today. Vermont, which Sanders represents, is almost certain to go to the self-proclaimed democratic socialist senator. The state has 16 delegates up for grabs. Massachusetts, which Warren represents in the Senate, is a much bigger prize, offering 91 delegates. But Warren can’t count on home cooking. Polls have shown that she and Sanders are in a tight race to win Massachusetts. – Calia

Mike Bloomberg is seriously lowering expectations for Super Tuesday. Fueled by more than $500 million in ad spending, the billionaire had bet big on success in the 14 states voting Tuesday to help him rack up delegates and seize momentum in the race. But now he is expressing doubt about whether he will win any states Tuesday, although he pledged to stay in the race all the way through the convention in July. In fact, he suggested he doesn’t see another path to the nomination beyond winning at a contested convention, in which no candidate has at least 1,991 delegates, which would be a majority. He told reporters in Miami that he doesn’t see he “can win any other way.” Florida holds its primary March 17. – Calia

Betting markets are now favoring Joe Biden to win the Democratic nomination after his big win in South Carolina, as he has pulled ahead of Bernie Sanders, according to Real Clear Politics. Meanwhile, polling analysis site FiveThirtyEight has Biden in a much better position in its forecast than it did before Saturday’s South Carolina primary. Heading into the weekend, Sanders was ahead of the former vice president. As of the most recent reading, Biden has a 31% chance of winning the Democratic primary, while Sanders has an 8% chance. But here’s the key thing: FiveThirtyEight’s model currently says there is a 61% chance that no one will reach the delegate majority threshold heading into July’s Democratic National Convention. – Calia

While voters are hitting the polls, the two billionaires in the campaign, President Donald Trump and Mike Bloomberg, are teeing off on each other on Twitter. After more than three months in the race and more than $500 million spent, Bloomberg is finally on some Democratic primary ballots Tuesday. While he had surged in the polls for a while, his momentum stopped dead due to his weak debate performance in Nevada last month. Trump on Tuesday continued targeting Bloomberg over the former New York mayor’s widely panned turn in that debate and a subsequent one in South Carolina. Bloomberg’s well-paid social media team replied in kind. – Calia

The White House isn’t the only thing on the line this November. Republican control of the Senate is also up in the air, with the GOP defending 23 Senate seats, while Democrats are defending only 12. Alabama, North Carolina and Texas are also holding Senate primaries Tuesday. The biggest race is in Alabama, where former Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions is running to get his old Senate seat back. He is facing off against Rep. Bradley Byrne and political newcomer Tommy Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach. If no one gets a 50% majority on Tuesday, the top two finishers will face off later this month in a runoff. – Christina Wilkie

Welcome to the CNBC Politics team’s coverage of Super Tuesday, the most pivotal day yet in the Democrats’ campaign for the right to take on President Donald Trump in November. The party’s presidential field has consolidated dramatically since Joe Biden romped in the South Carolina primary Saturday. The victory resurrected the former vice president’s campaign and compelled three candidates – Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar – to drop out. Buttigieg and Klobuchar, along with long-departed candidate Beto O’Rourke, endorsed Biden on Monday.

Polls started opening at 6 a.m. Sen. Bernie Sanders remains the race’s front-runner, as he holds a narrow lead in delegates over Biden coming into Tuesday, and is expected to do well in delegate-rich states such as California and Texas. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg remain in the race, however, and they both are aiming to rack up delegates themselves across the 14 states voting Tuesday. It looks like Biden’s momentum and Sanders’ strong base of support, however, could make this a two-person race after Tuesday. But stranger things have happened. — Mike Calia

Here are the states voting Tuesday, how many delegates are at stake, and the times their polls close (all times Eastern):

• Alabama, 52 delegates: 8 p.m.
• Arkansas, 31 delegates: 8:30 p.m.
• California, 415 delegates: 11 p.m.
• Colorado, 67 delegates: 9 p.m.
• Maine, 24 delegates: 8 p.m.
• Massachusetts, 91 delegates: 8 p.m.
• Minnesota, 75 delegates: 9 p.m.
• North Carolina, 110 delegates: 7:30 p.m.
• Oklahoma, 37 delegates: 8 p.m.
• Tennessee, 64 delegates: 8 p.m.
• Texas, 228 delegates: 8 p.m., with some polls at 9 p.m.
• Utah, 29 delegates: 10 p.m.
• Vermont, 16 delegates: 7 p.m.
• Virginia, 99 delegates: 7 p.m.

CNBC’s Yelena Dzhanova, Christina Wilkie, Kevin Breuninger, Tucker Higgins, Brian Schwartz, Dan Mangan and Kevin Stankiewicz contributed to this live blog.