Joe Biden barely campaigned in Tennessee. He still won big. Here are our key takeaways from Super Tuesday – The Tennessean
With a strong performance across the country on Super Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden handily won the Volunteer State, despite spending little of his own time or campaign money in the state.
When polls initially closed shortly after 7 p.m. CT, Biden, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg were neck and neck.
But as votes continued to be tallied, Biden’s lead significantly increased, eventually giving him a double-digit advantage.
Before 9 p.m. CT, the race was called for Biden.
Here are four key takeaways from Tuesday’s election.
Biden spends little resources but secures big win
With no major public polling taking place in the lead up to Tuesday’s election, Biden’s election may have come as a surprise.
In some ways, Biden’s victory in Tennessee is hardly a shock given the state’s history of supporting moderate Democrats.
The Volunteer State favored Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in 2008. Voters also favored her over Sanders in 2016.
In other ways, the results fly in the face of conventional campaign wisdom. Biden spent little money and almost no time in Tennessee, which is hardly typical. To be sure, in the days leading up to Tuesday, his wife, Jill Biden, did campaign in the state but the candidate himself had not campaigned here since attending a fundraiser late last year.
When Biden last appeared on a Tennessee ballot in the 2008 presidential race, he dropped out of the race more than a month prior.
As he did in South Carolina on Saturday, Biden’s performance in Tennessee was buoyed by an impressive performance in Shelby County, the county with the state’s largest African-American population. By the end of the night, Biden received more votes in Shelby County than Bloomberg, Sanders and Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren combined. More than 50,000 of the county’s 99,000 votes were cast for Biden.
Sanders struggles once again
In 2016, when Sanders squared off against Clinton, he won just three of the state’s 95 counties, all in East Tennessee.
This year, Sanders gained some traction, winning four counties.
Overall, Sanders struggled mightily statewide, receiving a little more than 117,000 votes. In 2016, Sanders netted 120,000 votes.
Meanwhile, Biden won 90 counties on Tuesday.
The left-leaning Sanders gained momentum in several early states, netting a few more on Tuesday. But his brand of politics is one that’s never been fully embraced by Tennessee Democrats — a fact cemented by Tuesday’s results.
Bloomberg’s big bet flops
After launching an unconventional campaign in November, Bloomberg blanketed the airwaves in Tennessee, spending more than $5 million on TV ads.
The rest of the candidates, including a Super PAC for Warren, spent less than $2 million combined.
Due to his late entrance in the race, Bloomberg placed significant attention on Super Tuesday states.
Unlike his competitors, who largely stayed away from Tennessee with only a handful of appearances each, Bloomberg visited the Volunteer State four times. He hired an army of paid staff, holding elaborate campaign events that featured custom designed stages and free food for attendees.
But for all the effort, Bloomberg was largely trounced. By the end of the night, Bloomberg won just one county, placing second in 15 counties.
Campaigns join forces after tornado
Still, despite all their differences, the Democratic candidates joined forces in Tennessee in the aftermath of Tuesday’s early morning deadly tornado.
Lawyers representing the campaigns of Biden, Bloomberg, Sanders and Warren filed for a temporary restraining order in Davidson County Chancery Court to keep polling places open later.
They succeeded. All sites stayed open an hour later to 8 p.m. CT and five additional sites remained open until 10 p.m. CT.
Tornado damage shuttered 21 polling places in Nashville, leading to long lines at alternate “super sites” that were forced to accommodate an unexpected influx of Super Tuesday voters.
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Reach Joel Ebert at jebert@tennessean.com or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.
Published 6:00 AM EST Mar 4, 2020
