The View From Super Tuesday
As voters in 14 states went to the polls to cast their ballots for their preferred presidential candidates on Super Tuesday, NPR member stations captured what election day looked like across the country.
The enthusiasm was palpable. In Mendon, Vt., Town Clerk Nancy Gondella said the first voter arrived 10 minutes before polls opened at 8 a.m.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also voted in Vermont on Tuesday morning, calling it a "very, very important day" as he cast his ballot in Burlington. As polls closed at 7 p.m., Sanders clinched his home state early.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her husband, Bruce Mann, were among the primary voters in their home state of Massachusetts on Super Tuesday morning. Warren voted near her home in Cambridge. But former Vice President Joe Biden won the state.
Biden also claimed victory in Virginia's Democratic primary as polls closed at 7 p.m. The state had 99 delegates up for grabs.
Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., a freshman who represents parts of Northern Virginia, was one of several high-profile endorsements Biden picked up in the state. Virginia saw record turnout for its Tuesday primary.
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg also had support from a lot of well-known surrogates — such as Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser. She campaigned for Bloomberg in next-door Arlington, Va., on Tuesday.
In El Paso, Texas, high school senior Marianna Muñoz voted in her first election during her lunch break from school, casting her ballot for Sanders.
Texas, the second-largest state on Super Tuesday, with 228 delegates up for grabs, is a markedly young state: 40% of the population is under 30. Still, some college students at the University of Texas at Arlington said they were not planning to vote in the Tuesday primary.
In Tennessee, a tornado tore through the Nashville area Monday night, causing widespread damage and at least 22 deaths. The storm disrupted voting at several polling places in the area, but a ruling on Tuesday evening allowed a handful to stay open late.
"This means that democracy won, because people are going to be given the opportunity to vote," Dave Garrison, the state Democratic Party's attorney, told The Tennessean.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, cast their ballots in Sacramento. Siebel Newsom announced her endorsement of Warren on Friday. The governor had previously backed California Sen. Kamala Harris, who dropped out in December, but he would not say whom he voted for today.
California was the biggest prize on Super Tuesday and in the primary race overall, with a whopping 415 delegates. Sanders was projected to win the state. [Copyright 2020 NPR]
