Joe Biden has won the Democratic primary in Washington state, with late-breaking votes depriving rival Bernie Sanders of a much-needed win.
NBC, ABC, CNN and The New York Times called the state for Biden on Monday, six days after a mail-only March 10 primary election was deemed too close to call.
Sanders was ahead in the race on Election Night. But updated election results Monday showed that late-breaking votes postmarked by Election Day but received afterward predominately went Biden’s way, giving him a 23,000-vote margin over Sanders.
With 95% of the projected vote now counted, Biden leads Sanders 37.9% to 36.4%, according to the Associated Press tally.
Washington, with its mail-in balloting and close vote count, was the last of the March 10 “Mini Tuesday” primaries to be called by the Associated Press. Biden also won Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Idaho; Sanders won North Dakota.