Los Angeles Times - 04.03.2020

A8 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2020 S LATIMES.COM

California, the marquee
prize of the 14-state voting
bonanza of Super Tuesday,
has sided with Sen. Bernie
Sanders, according to Asso-
ciated Press projections.
Sanders was leading in
early returns Tuesday night,
but the question remains
how much of the state’s
trove of 415 delegates his
competitors will claim. For-
mer Vice President Joe Bid-
en seems likely to have
enough support to claim a
significant number of dele-
gates, and former New York
Mayor Michael R. Bloom-
berg may as well. But the fi-
nal delegate numbers will
remain unsettled for days, if
not weeks, as state officials
count millions of provisional
and late-arriving mail-in
ballots and calculate the
state’s complex delegate
math.
The projection of Sand-
ers’ win came immediately
as the polls closed at 8 p.m.,
even as many voters re-
mained in line, with wide-
spread complaints of long
waits at polling places. The
AP based its call on its exit
polls, which found that
Sanders had enough of a
lead, particularly among
votes that were mailed in
early, to prevent Biden and
Bloomberg from catching
up. Sen. Elizabeth Warren
was lagging behind in fourth
place in early returns but
may still be in position to
claim some delegates.
More than 4 million bal-
lots were cast before Tues-
day. As the later results roll
in, they may contain good
news for Biden, whose cam-
paign has been infused with
a fresh burst of energy in re-
cent days. Late deciders in
California sided with the
Biden by a 10-point margin
over Sanders, according to a
separate exit poll conducted
for the major television net-
works.
Sanders, the Vermont
senator, addressing a home
state crowd about an hour
before the California polls
closed, pinned his hopes for
the night in part on a strong
showing in the Golden
State.
“I’m cautiously opti-
mistic that later in the eve-
ning, we can win the largest
state in this country, the
state of California,” Sanders
said.
Like elsewhere in the
country, the presidential
race in California has been
volatile, with at least four
contenders leading polls in

the state at different points

over the last seven months.

Recent polling showed

Sanders pulling away, point-

ing to a romp that had the

potential to box out his com-

petitors from scoring signifi-

cant delegates.

But Biden’s victory Sat-

urday in South Carolina and

the burst of endorsements

that came after it boosted

his chances here as in other

states. How big a boost that

turns out to be will remain

unclear until the final vote

tabulation. State officials

have until April 2 to com-

plete their canvass.

For Sanders, winning in

California carries extra sym-

bolic heft. He lost the state’s

2016 primary to Hillary Clin-

ton by 7 percentage points,

one day after the Associated

Press had reported that

Clinton had secured enough

delegate support to clinch

the nomination.

This time, with Califor-

nia’s primary moved from

June to March and a com-

mitted bastion of support-

ers lending Sanders an or-

ganizing head start, the

state factored significantly

into his campaign blueprint.

His strategists lumped Cali-

fornia into the “first five” of

crucial states — along with

traditional early nominat-

ing states of Iowa, New

Hampshire, Nevada and

South Carolina — and built

an extensive field operation

with 105 paid staffers.

Sanders himself made

frequent visits to the state,

hosting rallies not just in the

population hubs of Los An-

geles and the San Francisco

Bay Area, but also in often

overlooked cities in the Cen-

tral Valley.

His success hinged on

building on his core support

among young and very libe-

ral voters with a concerted

outreach to the state’s large

Latino population. Sanders

won 55% of that consequen-

tial bloc, according to the

network exit poll.

“He sees us as human be-

ings,” said Mildred Dimas, a

30-year-old Boyle Heights

resident and daughter of

Mexican immigrants. “He

empathizes with our immi-

grant story.”

Biden was boosted by a

strong showing among older

voters, moderates and Afri-

can Americans, according to

exit polls.

“The momentum has

changed in his favor,” said

Jose Marroquin, a 67-year-

old retiree from Los Angeles

who had decided he was

supporting Biden as soon as

he entered the race. “I am

actually thinking that the

tide has turned.”

Driven by the state’s

yearning for political

relevance, California offi-

cials moved the state’s pri-

mary to early March, up

from June in the previous

two elections, in hopes the

results would shape the con-

tours of the presidential

race.

Although the state still

got far less attention than

the candidates lavished on

Iowa and New Hampshire,

Californians did get more

opportunities to glimpse the

candidates at rallies and

other in-person events.

The race was even more

heated on the airwaves, with

more than $120 million

worth of television advertis-

ing blanketing the state

since early 2019. Well over

half of that came from one

candidate, Bloomberg, who

blitzed California with ad-

vertising immediately upon

entering the race in Novem-

ber.

Democratic political fig-

ures were quick to declare

the early primary a success.

“It absolutely had the de-

sired impact.... Candidates

set up significant opera-

tions across the state during

the primary, poured re-

sources into communicat-

ing with Democratic voters

and courted Democrats by

focusing on important Cali-

fornia issues,” said Rusty

Hicks, chairman of the Cali-

fornia Democratic Party.

Paul Mitchell, a political

data specialist, said the re-

cent swell of support for Bid-

en among moderate party

figures, including erstwhile

rivals — former South Bend,

Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg,

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Min-

nesota and former Rep.

Beto O’Rourke of Texas —

was driven by the high

stakes and a desire to deny

Sanders a glide path to the

nomination.

“The amazing events of

the last 24 hours wouldn’t

have happened if you didn’t

have one-fifth of all the dele-

gates you need to win the

nomination being served up

on Super Tuesday,” Mitchell

said. “These events are hap-

pening because California

moved its primary ahead.”

With the politicking

drawing to a close, the focus

now turns to counting — a

notoriously protracted pro-

cess in California, thanks to

the popularity of mail-in bal-

lots, which count as long as

they’re postmarked by elec-

tion day, and the availability

of same-day registration,

which leads to a large num-

ber of provisional ballots.

There are effectively 54

primaries going on in

California; one based on

the statewide vote total,

which will divvy up 144 dele-

gates, and 53 races in indi-

vidual congressional dis-

tricts, which together ac-

count for 271. In each con-

test, delegates are awarded

proportionately among the

candidates who get at least

15% of the vote.

“You’ll see a lot of move-

ment in those delegate num-

bers over the course of the

next few weeks once all

the votes come in,” said

Roger Salazar, spokesman

for the state Democratic

Party. “Our perspective is

we’d rather have an accurate

count than a fast count.”

Some savvy voters took

the state’s prolonged tally-

ing procedures into account

when choosing how to vote.

Lisa Marie Desai, a 37-year-

old stenographer from Cul-

ver City, opted to drop off

her mail-in ballot at her local

voting center to ensure that

her vote for Warren is

counted sooner rather than

later.

“I could’ve put my thing

in the mail today and it

would’ve been postmarked,”

Desai said. “But I wanted to

be a part of the data for to-

day. I wanted to be part of

the election day results.”

Times staff writers Melissa

Gomez and Matt Pearce

contributed to this report.

DEMOCRATICpresidential candidate Bernie Sanders, center foreground, greets supporters in Santa Ana on Feb. 21. Sanders made frequent visits to California.

Allen J. SchabenLos Angeles Times

Sanders projected to win California

Vermont senator leads

in early returns for

Super Tuesday’s main

prize, but rivals may

claim delegates too.

By Melanie Mason

PEOPLEuse new voting machines at Wilshire Park Elementary on Tuesday. The final delegate numbers will remain unsettled for days if

not weeks as state officials count millions of provisional and late-arriving mail-in ballots and calculate the state’s complex delegate math.

Al SeibLos Angeles Times

California primary results

Bernie Sanders led Tuesday's Democratic primary,

ahead of Joe Biden and the rest of the field.

Percentage of vote

Sanders 31.2%

Biden 22.3%

Bloomberg 16.1%

Warren 12.2%

Results at 12:30 a.m. with 48% of precincts reporting

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder

Los Angeles Times

ELECTION 2020