Joe Biden inches ever-so-close to clinching Democratic nomination
As of early Wednesday, CBS News projected Joe Biden had 1,912 delegates, just shy of the 1,991 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. With results still coming in from Tuesday primaries, Biden could clinch the nomination soon.
Biden picked up wins Tuesday in Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Dakota, CBS New projected. He also came out on top in the District of Columbia, The Associated Press projected.
More than 400 delegates were up for grabs in seven states and Washington D.C. on Tuesday, making it one of the biggest nights since Super Tuesday. On June 9, West Virginia and Georgia will hold their primaries, after postponing them due to the coronavirus pandemic. Georgia has 105 pledged delegates and West Virginia has 28.
The June 2 contests were at least partially the results of changes wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. Indiana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Maryland were supposed to hold their primaries earlier but postponed them to Tuesday. And New Jersey and Connecticut were both set to hold their primaries on Tuesday, but New Jersey postponed its primary until July 7 and Connecticut has rescheduled its primary for August 11.
To protect the safety of their voters, states are mostly allowing mail-in voting, a method President Trump has condemned as "substantially fraudulent," though he has never offered any evidence of this. Voting by mail will, however, mean that counting the votes will take longer, since not all of the ballots will be in by Election Day.
Biden traveled for the first time in months from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, to Philadelphia City Hall to give a speech on the ongoing nationwide protests. "The country is crying out for leadership, leadership that can unite us," Biden said.