Campaign

Biden wins Arkansas primary

Former Vice President Joe Biden won the Arkansas presidential primary, adding to the number of states he won in the Democratic race on Tuesday.

Biden finished ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

The Associated Press called the race for Biden shortly before 10 p.m. ET.

With 19 percent of precincts reporting, Biden was ahead with 32 percent support, followed by Sanders at 21 percent, Bloomberg at 20 percent and Warren at 10 percent.

The Arkansas primary will allocate 31 pledged delegates.

Biden’s victory is notable because of the heavy investment Bloomberg made in the state in the hope that voters would seek a centrist candidate besides the former vice president.

The former New York mayor, who entered the race late, didn’t participate in the first four early voting states, devoting his considerable resources to the states voting on Super Tuesday and beyond.

Biden was able to win a spree of Southern states on Super Tuesday after a resounding victory Saturday in South Carolina. Besides Arkansas, the former vice president has so far defeated his rivals in Alabama, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and Minnesota.

Biden has benefited from centrists coalescing around his campaign after his South Carolina win, with former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) dropping out of the presidential race and backing his bid.