Former Vice President Joe Biden won the Mississippi primary on Tuesday, the latest in his string of victories in the Deep South, where black voters have turned out in big numbers to support his campaign.
News outlets called the victory for Biden over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as soon as polls closed.
Biden’s final margin of victory is not known yet, but polls showed him up by 50 points heading into Election Day, so he’ll likely win a strong majority of the 36 delegates up for grabs.
Sanders canceled a planned event in Mississippi last week, deciding instead that his time would be better spent in Michigan, the biggest delegate prize on Tuesday.
Biden’s victory in Mississippi is the latest evidence of his strength among black voters in the South.
The former vice president’s 25-point victory in late February in South Carolina, where more than half of the Democratic electorate is black, was a major turning point in the presidential nominating race.
Biden followed that up with sweeping victories across the South, where he ran up the score over Sanders in Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Oklahoma and Tennessee, in large part due to his strong support among African Americans.
Exit polls found that about two-thirds of Democratic voters in Mississippi are black, the highest rate of any state to vote so far.
About 75 percent of voters said Biden best understands the concerns of people of color.
Mississippi’s Democratic electorate is also more conservative, with 50 percent describing themselves as moderates, 25 percent as somewhat liberal and only 25 percent as very liberal.
Biden entered the day leading Sanders by about 75 delegates overall, and his allies are expecting a big night on Tuesday, when voters in five other states will also vote.
Michigan is the biggest state up for grabs, with more than one-third of all delegates at stake on Tuesday.
Polls show Biden leading big in Michigan, although Sanders pulled off a stunner there in 2016, narrowly defeating Hillary Clinton, despite polls showing him down by 20 points or more heading into Election Day.
But polls also show Biden leading big in Missouri. And the race appears close in Washington, North Dakota and Idaho, where Sanders scored decisive victories over Clinton in 2016.
About 60 percent of voters in exit polls said they’d like to see a return to Obama-era politics, while only 20 percent said they’d like to see more a more liberal agenda.