ST. PAUL, Minn. (KELO.com) — Despite a large following in Minnesota and winning the state in 2016, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., lost to former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday in the state’s Democratic primary.
Before the vote, Sanders had been polling neck-and-neck with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., for the lead in her home state, but Klobuchar dropped out of the race Monday and quickly endorsed Biden just before voters went to the polls.
Sanders’ second-place finish in Minnesota is seen as a shock in his run for the White House. This week, Sanders was in St. Paul for a rally, where college student Emma Shine explained why she was voting for him.
“As a younger person living in the United States, there’s a lot that’s going to affect more of the younger generation,” she said, “and he really looks at that.”
Sanders has enjoyed plenty of support from progressive voters in Minnesota, but Klobuchar’s exit and endorsement of Biden is being viewed as a likely reason the former vice president finished in first place.
It wasn’t just younger voters pulling for Sanders in Minnesota. Chuck Holman, 63, described Sanders as “the only one he could get behind” in the Democratic field of candidates.
“I’ve got to tell ya, there is nobody else that I could support in this race,” he said. “There’s nobody.”
Holman said he would be hard-pressed to support Biden, who secured wins in several other states Tuesday. However, Sanders was the projected winner in California, which was considered the top prize in the Super Tuesday states up for grabs.
Primary election results from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office are online at sos.state.mn.us.
(Mike Moen, MNC, contributed this report.)
