Three days after reviving his campaign for President with a big win in the South Carolina Primary, a wave of support for former Vice President Joe Biden propelled him to a series of unexpected victories in the 14 states of Super Tuesday, firmly establishing Biden as the Democratic Party alternative to independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
"A few days ago, the press and the pundits had declared the campaign dead," Biden said to cheering supporters in Los Angeles.
"It's a good night," a smiling Biden said. "They don't call it Super Tuesday for nothing."
Biden won across the map, chalking up victories in Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, Minnesota, Arkansas, and in Massachusetts, the home state of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
With votes still being counted well after midnight, Biden was also leading in Maine.
Sanders meanwhile was the victor in his home state of Vermont, Colorado, Utah, and the biggest prize of Super Tuesday, California.
The vote totals represented a setback for Sanders, losing in states which he had won against Hillary Clinton in 2016, like Oklahoma and Texas, as Biden triumphed without any organization or spending - while Sanders had worked for months to be ready for Super Tuesday.
In his speech from back home in Vermont, Sanders took aim at Biden, previewing the battle ahead.
"We are not only taking on the corporate establishment, we are taking on the political establishment," Sanders said.
"You cannot beat Trump with the same old, same old, kind of politics," Sanders added, repeating a familiar stump speech reference to Biden.
Biden and Sanders were the only winners on Super Tuesday, as Michael Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren did not come close to winning any of the fourteen states in play - though Bloomberg did win the majority of delegates in the U.S. territory of American Samoa.
Bloomberg will reportedly reassess his campaign on Wednesday, as his first appearance on the ballot did not net him any momentum.
"In just three months, we've gone from one percent of the polls to being a contender for the Democratic nomination," Bloomberg said at a campaign rally.
But after spending millions, Bloomberg had little to show for it.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren was in much deeper trouble, as she did not finish above third place in any state - including her home state of Massachusetts, where Biden was the winner.
That immediately raised questions about the future of Warren's campaign.
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