Hillary Clinton took Georgia and Virginia in the first round of Super Tuesday primary results on the Dem side, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) easily taking his home state of Vermont.
CNN quickly called the first three states based on exit polling. With 3 percent of the vote in, Sanders had 90.3 percent to Clinton’s 9.6 percent in Vermont, which has 16 delegates.
With 1 percent of the vote in, Clinton had 72.4 percent to Sanders’ 24.9 percent in Georgia, a state with 102 apportioned delegates. With 10 percent of Virginia’s votes counted, Clinton had 65.8 percent to 33.6 percent for Sanders.
Sanders emerged quickly in Essex Junction, Vt., to speak to excited supporters chanting “feel the Bern.”
“It is good to be home,” he declared, adding that though “we want to win in every part of the country” he was flattered that “the people who know me best have voted so strongly to put us in the White House.”
“This campaign is not just about electing a president; it is about transforming America.”
Sanders prepared his supporters to see tonight’s Clinton victories in perspective: “This is not a general election, it’s not winner take all… by the end of tonight, we are going to win many hundreds of delegates.”
“Thank you for the love and friendship you have given our family,” he told supporters. “You have sustained me.”
Campaign manager Jeff Weaver told CNN that no matter what happens tonight the Sanders campaign is going all the way to Philadelphia.
“We’re going all the way to the convention,” Weaver promised. “All the way.”
UPDATE 8:35 p.m.: Clinton has won Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas, with delegates apportioned. Sanders was slightly ahead in Massachusetts and the race was tight in Oklahoma.
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