Florida Primary Results: Biden Speaks About Coronavirus After Win

FLORIDA — Former Vice President Joe Biden handily defeated Sen. Bernie Sanders in Florida's presidential primary Tuesday. Unofficial returns showed Biden with a sizable advantage over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 62 to 23 percent. When he acknowledged his wins in Florida and Illinois, he praised Sanders' supporters for their passion and urged them to rally behind his campaign.

CNN and the Associated Press declared Biden the winner as soon as the final Florida polls closed at 8 p.m. EDT.

Florida's 219 delegates represent a chance for Biden, who has surged in recent primaries and caucuses, to lock up his party's nomination over rival Sanders. Businessman and former New York City mayorMichael Bloomberg, who dropped out of the race after Super Tuesday, received 9 percent of the votes. Many other former Democratic candidates were on the ballot, and grabbed slivers of the vote.

Biden spoke to the country via a livestream from his house in Wilmington, Delaware, to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people. He addressed the growing coronavirus pandemic, which he said has impacted every aspect of American life, and every aspect of this campaign.

Mobilizing the resources to treat coronavirus patients will require an effort like wartime, Biden said.

"It’s going to require each of us to do our part," Biden said. "Yes, this is a moment where we need our leaders to lead, but it’s also a moment where the choices made and the decisions we make as individuals are going to collectively impact on what happens, make a big difference in the severity of this outbreak."

Americans are up to the challenge coronavirus poses, he said, and expressed faith that ordinary people doing extraordinary things when the need arises will happen as it has in past crises.

“I believe in times of crisis Americans have always stepped up, we have to step up and care for one another,” Biden said.

He thanked voters for their support, and recognized the passion that young voters feel for the Sanders campaign.

“I hear you," Biden said to those who support Sanders. "I know what is at stake, I know what we have to do. Our goal as a campaign, and my goal as a candidate for president is to unify this party and then unify this nation.”

See live results from the Florida Division of Elections site below.

Sanders also spoke Tuesday night, calling the escalating coronavirus crisis an "unprecedented moment" and laying out the framework of a coronavirus policy he said would require at least $2 trillion in funding. Plans included activating the military to build mobile hospitals and testing facilities, a $2,000 cash payment to every U.S. household, moratoriums on evictions and utility shut-offs, and unemployment assistance for anyone who loses their job in the economic upheaval associated with the coronavirus.

He also made a renewed pitch for his signature "Medicare for all" proposal, and said Medicare should pay for all medical bills during the coronavirus crisis.

"What I believe we must do is empower Medicare to cover all medical bills during this emergency," he said. But he also stressed that "this is not Medicare for all. We can't pass that right now."

Sanders did not talk about his chances of winning the nomination in his remarks, made before many polls closed.

At Florida Polling Sites

John Elson, a retired law professor from Northwestern University, who splits his time between Florida and Chicago, emerged from his polling place at South Pointe Elementary School wearing white latex gloves. He said he voted for Biden because he worries that Sanders might not defeat President Trump.

Poll workers wore face masks and disposable gloves. A retiree told Patch she brought a disinfecting wipe along to wipe down the pen given her to mark her ballot.

Along with Florida's big delegate haul, tonight's other big prizes are Illinois and Arizona, which have 155 and 67 delegates, respectively.

Sanders said after last week's primaries in six states that he would remain in the race as long as he has a path forward to the nomination.

Related: Coronavirus Not On Ballot, But Virus Evident In FL's Election

The latest Real Clear Politics poll average shows Biden has the support of 65 percent of Democrats in the swing state, followed by Sanders with 23 percent and Gabbard with 2 percent, and the rest undecided.

In the past 10 presidential elections, Republican candidates have won Florida seven times and Democratic candidates have won Florida three times. In nine of those 10 elections, the candidate that won Florida ended up winning the presidential election. Only George H.W. Bush failed to win the presidency after winning Florida electoral votes.

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Some precincts opened late, or not all, after poll workers didn't show up.

Valrico resident Yvette Hammett described her polling place at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds as a "ghost town."

"When I arrived a little before 9 a.m., there were only two other voters there," she said. "After I filled out my ballet, I couldn't see where to take it. A volunteer guided me and said, "We were supposed to have 12 people today, but only four showed up."

Delray Beach resident Phil Metzler said he didn't even get a chance to vote.

"My precinct never opened up for voting," he said. "The reason given was that the person who has the ability to open the machines never showed up. I can't blame them."

Metzler said he asked if he could vote at a precinct closer to his home but was told his vote wouldn't count if he did.

"So I can go there and probably catch and spread the virus we are trying to stop or I can not vote," said Metzler. "I feel my right to vote has been suppressed or, better yet, stolen. ... I call this voter theft by our governor."

Republicans also cast their votes for their party's nominee. President Donald Trump has three challengers on the Republican primary ballot.

Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente ran for president in 2016 as a Reform party candidate and Bill Weld, former governor of Massachusetts, ran for vice president on the Libertarian ticket in 2016.

A third challenger, former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, ended his campaign Feb. 7 after the Iowa caucuses.

A key factor in the primary could be the Puerto Rican vote.

In 2017 after Hurricane Maria devastated the American territory, 135,000 Puerto Ricans packed their bags and moved to the United States, with an estimated 50,000 relocating to Florida. As a result, both parties have been actively cultivating the Puerto Rican vote.