WASHINGTON, D.C.—Joe Biden had another dominating night Tuesday in the U.S. Democratic presidential primaries with victories in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona. Running the table of states voting Tuesday made his nomination all but assured, but did so at a time when such events fell completely under the shadow of concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis.

Speaking from his home in Delaware, Biden opened his victory speech by offering condolences to anyone affected directly by that virus. “I know that we’ll answer this moment. That’s who we are, ordinary people doing extraordinary things when the need arises,” he said, going on to thank those who worked to disinfect voting booths in the states that voted today.

Biden continued his outreach to Sanders’ supporters. “Let me say especially to the young voters who’ve been inspired by Senator Bernie Sanders: I hear you. I see what’s at stake.”

Sanders, the other remaining candidate, gave a 25-minute online address just after the Florida polls closed, and did not once mention the primaries that took place Tuesday. Instead, he devoted the entire speech to the coronavirus, suggesting $2,000-per-month payments to Americans monthly until the crisis is over, among other things.

Ohio, which had been scheduled to vote Tuesday as well, suspended its primary on the orders of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine because of virus concerns.

“It would have been wrong to compel people to make a decision today, whether they were going to risk their health, compromise health (to) exercise their constitutional right,” DeWine said at a press conference reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Problems were reported in Illinois and Florida with in-person voting as some polling stations were closed due to staff refusing to report to work, or a lack of needed sanitation supplies. In Arizona, polling places were consolidated in advance and people were free to vote at any location. Most voters there voted by mail, and the mail-in vote alone exceeded turnout for the 2016 primary.

As the early vote rolled in, Biden was receiving more than 60 per cent of it in Florida and more than 55 per cent in Illinois. Biden won every single district in Florida, and all but one in Illinois. In Arizona, based on early returns, he was set to win a narrower victory with a lead of 43-30 as the AP called the race at 11:15EDT.

The growth in Biden’s delegate lead, likely to more than 300 over Sanders, will make it very difficult for Sanders to catch him in the contests that remain. Based on delegate projections mid-evening, it appeared Sanders would need to win more than 60 per cent of the remaining delegates to win.

But so far, Sanders has shown little inclination to drop out of the race, despite calls for him to do so by many Democratic supporters who feel it is time to focus the party’s resources on defeating Donald Trump in the November election. Sanders sees himself as the leader of a movement, and his supporters told Politico Tuesday he is intent on continuing to win more delegates so that he has influence on the party’s platform committee at the convention.

This will be the last contest of the primary season until early April, as other states who were scheduled to hold primaries and caucuses in the next two weeks have postponed theirs due to the COVID-19 crisis. Alaska, Hawaii and Wyoming are scheduled to hold their primaries on April 4, Wisconsin on April 7.

On the other side of the ballot, President Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination Tuesday with his wins in Florida and Illinois, passing the threshold he needed to secure a majority of delegates after winning every state so far against challenger Bill Weld, a former Massachusetts governor.

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