NC Democratic Primary: Biden, Sanders Battle To Be Nominee

CHARLOTTE, NC — North Carolina voters head to the polls on Super Tuesday to cast ballots for a host of races, but perhaps none more consequential than their pick for the Democratic presidential candidate.

The race among Democrat candidates in North Carolina is tight after three candidates dropped out following Saturday's contest in South Carolina. Leading into Tuesday’s vote, one statewide poll found the top three contenders — former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg — are neck-in-neck in the race for the state’s 110 pledged delegates.

On Super Tuesday, voters will cast ballots in primaries in 14 states and one territory: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and American Samoa. With 34 percent of pledged delegates up for grabs on the national level, the elections are high stakes for Democratic presidential nominees.

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If early voting is any indication, Super Tuesday voter turnout in North Carolina will be high, says one political analyst.

“I think with the continued muddiness of the field, the numerous candidates, and the uncertainty of divisions within the Democratic party (mostly generationally and racially), I don’t think I would be surprised by anything,” Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College, told Patch.

Early voting in North Carolina ended Feb. 29, and brought in nearly 800,000 ballots. Of those ballots, more than 500,000 were cast for the Democratic primary.

“One thing that is interesting is that 27 percent of those Democratic primary voters are registered unaffiliated, much higher than the 20 percent in 2016,” Bitzer said. “Boomers are half of the [Democrat] primary early votes; that’s not surprising, due to the research I’ve done and the fact that early voters tend to be older,” he said.

According to a Meredith University poll released late last week, 17.7 percent of voters favor Sanders, with 17.2 percent saying they intend to vote for Biden. In a narrow third place, according to the poll, is New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg with 17 percent voter support.

The poll, however, was released before several newsworthy events. Biden surged ahead to a decisive victory with nearly 50 percent of votes in South Carolina’s primary Saturday. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana who won Iowa and finished second in New Hampshire, pulled the plug on his campaign Sunday, as did Tom Steyer the night before. And Monday afternoon, just hours before polls opened, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar suspended her campaign as well.

SEE ALSO:

• Trump To Hold Rally In Charlotte Monday: How To Watch
• NC Appeals Court Blocks ‘Racially Discriminatory’ Voter ID Law
• Super Tuesday In North Carolina: What You Need To Know

Can’t get enough of primary elections? There are more just around the corner. The next round of primary voting takes place March 10 in Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota and Washington state, along with North Dakota’s Democratic caucuses. On March 17, Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio will hold their primary elections.