Biden crushes Sanders in Florida and Illinois primaries

Democratic presidential candidate Joe BidenImage copyright
AFP

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has steamrolled rival Bernie Sanders in primary elections in Florida and Illinois, US media project.

Accelerating his momentum in the race, the former US vice-president led Mr Sanders in both states with over 60% of the vote.

Arizona was also voting on Tuesday, though its polls have not yet closed.

Mr Biden is the favourite to become the Democratic candidate who will face President Donald Trump in November.

According to polling of Florida voters, most said electability was a priority for them.

About three in four said Mr Biden would have a better chance of beating Mr Trump, a Republican. Just one in five said the same of Mr Sanders.

Older voters were more likely to say they supported Mr Biden.

Nearly half of Florida’s voters said Mr Sanders’ stances were too liberal.

Florida was the biggest prize of the night, awarding 219 of the 1,991 delegates needed to secure the Democratic presidential nomination.

It was also an important victory for Mr Biden because Mr Trump won the traditional battleground state by 1.2 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election.

Ohio was also due to hold a primary on Tuesday, but it cancelled the vote because of the nationwide coronavirus outbreak.

Voters in the three states that did go ahead encountered poll workers wearing surgical gloves and hand sanitiser dispensers.

source: bbc.com