Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans — long a reliable voting bloc for Democrats — made up a disproportionately high 9 percent of the electorate in the Super Tuesday contests, and more than 40 percent of them voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to the NBC News Exit Poll.

The poll, which was conducted in 12 of the 14 Super Tuesday states, found that slightly less than 1 of every 10 voters identified as "LGBT." In addition to the 42 percent of such voters who went for Sanders, I-Vt., 22 percent backed Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — meaning two-thirds of all LGBT votes went to the two most progressive Democrats on the ballot.

The two most competitive centrists in the race, former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, got 19 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who had been the only openly gay candidate in the race, received 6 percent of the LGBT support, as he suspended his campaign Sunday after early voting had commenced in several states.

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