Former Vice President Joe Biden won the Michigan Democratic primary on Tuesday night, grabbing a big early lead in metro Detroit and in key counties across the state that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders was unable to overcome.

By doing so, Biden further solidified his march toward the Democratic nomination and facing President Donald Trump in November. And it called into question how long Sanders — who had a surprise win in Michigan four years ago against Hillary Clinton — would remain in the race.

"For all of those who have been knocked down and counted out, this is your campaign," Biden said from Philadelphia shortly before 11 p.m., alluding to the fact his candidacy seemed all but doomed before he put together a string of victories beginning with South Carolina's primary on Feb. 29. "Many declared this campaign was dead. But now we are very much alive.

"It looks like we're going to have a good night."

Sanders was not expected to address the media on Tuesday night.

The Michigan race was called by the Free Press and other media outlets shortly after 9 p.m. as precincts in the Central time zone on the western edge of the Upper Peninsula closed, giving Biden the biggest prize on the primary board on Tuesday night. Michigan has 125 delegates at stake.

With 99% of the state's precincts reporting, he led Sanders 53%-37%, or by about 258,000 votes statewide, according to the Associated Press' count.

He also had built impressive leads in metro Detroit with double-digit leads in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, the state's biggest counties. At the same time, Sanders was losing to Biden in several key counties, including Livingston and Ottawa, which he won when he beat Clinton.

With 100% of the vote counted in Washtenaw County, where the University of Michigan is located, Biden was ahead 48%-45%. Sanders won Washtenaw by 11 points four years ago.

Biden also beat Sanders in Ingham County, where Michigan State University is located, 45%-42%, based on unofficial results compiled by The AP, with all precincts reporting.

(Come back to freep.com for updated results.)

In his remarks Tuesday, Biden began the process of reaching out to Sanders' supporters, praising their energy and commitment. "We’re a step closer to restoring decency, dignity and honor to the White House," he said.

Across the state on Tuesday, voters made their way to their precincts, but it wasn't immediately clear what Election Day turnout would look like or who it would favor.

Just after the polls opened at 7 a.m., the precinct at the Coleman A. Young Recreation Center on Detroit's east side was empty but for poll workers, while outside, a fine rain was falling. Alphonzo Horton, a 56-year-old city worker, pulled into the still-darkened parking lot and went inside to cast a vote for Biden.

"Obama believed in him," Horton said, referring to former President Barack Obama, who picked Biden, a Democratic U.S. senator for decades, as his vice president. "I think because of his background, he's the right guy for the job."

An hour later, at Stevens T. Mason Elementary in Grosse Pointe Woods, 38-year-old Sarah Schroeder, a researcher, said she voted for Sanders.

When asked when she decided who to back, she said, "This morning."

"I was an Elizabeth Warren person," she said, until the Massachusetts senator dropped out last week. "I'm not sure Bernie has enough momentum to take the White House."

But, she added, "I had to vote my conscience on health care," she said, referring to Sanders' proposal for a government health care plan that would cover all Americans and get rid of private insurance. "Health care for all will save lives and change the country.”

There were questions, though, about how decisive the in-person vote on Election Day would be: A change in Michigan's law allowed residents to vote absentee ballots for no reason. As a consequence, about 804,216 ballots had been returned as of Tuesday morning, more than double what it was in the 2016 primary.

That had election officials wondering how many people would come out to the polls and whether the huge number of absentee ballots to be counted would cause delays on reporting results.

There were also questions about the number of candidates on the ballot who had already dropped out of the the Democratic race. Fifteen names were listed, but only Biden, Sanders and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii were still in the running.

But with Biden having grabbed unmistakable momentum in the last two weeks — winning South Carolina and then taking 10 of 14 Super Tuesday states as other candidates dropped out, many of them endorsing him — the race was his to lose. Biden is seen as a more moderate and pragmatic candidate than Sanders, proposing a Medicare-like public option for health care rather than Sanders' Medicare For All plan.

More:How Democratic presidential candidates want to change your health care

Polls ahead of the election made Biden the favorite to win, including one done by the Free Press that showed him with a 24-point lead over Sanders, who had fallen behind in the delegate count 670-574, according to RealClearPolitics.com, which tracks political polls and trends.

Few experts in the state, however, were ready beforehand to say Sanders had no chance to win, since four years ago he overcame polls that showed him down by double digits against Clinton to win a narrow 1.4-point victory over her before she went on to become the eventual nominee.

More:Joe Biden holds 24-point lead vs. Bernie Sanders in Michigan primary, Free Press poll says

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, who declined to endorse in the presidential primary despite being a close friend of Biden's and his wife, Jill, said after a hard-fought contest in Michigan, "We've got to pull together. We’ve got to win in November."

She also said Democratic leaders should avoid any declarations that the race is all but over.

“There were a lot of young people who came out and voted in my district and we have to be very careful,” she said. “I remember how ugly it was four years ago and we have to make sure we bring everyone in. Democracy says you don’t force anyone out.”

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, a former state party chairwoman, said regardless of who the nominee turns out to be, Trump, who won the state over Clinton by two-tenths of 1% of the vote, will beat the Democrat by winning working-class voters.

"I’m in Michigan quite a bit and that is going to be key to us winning Michigan again," she told FOX News. "These are blue-collar workers. They recognize that they didn’t have a voice in Washington, they were the forgotten men and women, and President Trump came and said we need to do better trade deals. ... Those are things that are going to resonate."

Michigan is expected to be a battleground again this fall. And while Trump went into Tuesday certain to win the Republican primary over former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, the only other GOP candidate on the ballot still running, some supporters went out to make sure.

At Jeanette Junior High School in Sterling Heights, Becki Kunkel, a 56-year-old secretary at a Lutheran school, said she voted for Trump.

"I think he's doing better than the media gives him credit for. I think he's doing better than the people give him credit for. ... He's trying to make America a better place for everybody," she said. "I thought, I'm going to show my support for him. People like me are out here and we intend to vote for him in November."

Regardless of outcome, delegate count could take time

Michigan was one of six states voting Tuesday, along with Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington state, with a total of 352 delegates available. As of early Wednesday morning, Biden had been projected to win Mississippi, Missouri and Idaho, as well as Michigan.

But since Democratic rules award delegates not just proportionately by the statewide outcome but also by the outcome in congressional districts, it could take some time to determine just how each candidate did in that important count. As of Wednesday morning, Biden was projected to win at least 53 delegates from Michigan, compared to 35 for Sanders, according to RealClearPolitics.com. Ultimately, a candidate needs 1,991 from all the primaries to be consider the presumptive nominee.

More:20 questions you might have about Michigan's primary election

While there was no way that threshold would be crossed as a result of Tuesday's results, the situation was becoming dire for Sanders with Biden having consolidated support in the polls and expected to win possibly all of the states voting that day.

Meanwhile, the calendar doesn't get much better for Sanders next week, with Biden expected to do well in states voting next Tuesday. Arizona, Illinois, Ohio and Florida are set to hold Democratic primaries on March 17.

As a result, Tuesday's outcome — especially in Michigan — was widely expected to play a role in determining what happens next: A loss here, combined with those elsewhere, could push Sanders to consider dropping out. After both he and Biden canceled events scheduled for Tuesday night in Ohio because of worries associated with the spread of coronavirus, Sanders was flying back to his home in Burlington, Vermont,, to watch results.

Biden was expected to hold a primary night event in Philadelphia, not far from his home in Wilmington, Delaware.

Biden, Sanders deliver parting remarks before leaving Michigan

Coming off a busy week for the candidates and their surrogates, both delivered remarks in the waning days of the Michigan campaign, hoping for an edge.

After rallies in Detroit, Dearborn, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who drew large crowds at some of his events, visited a couple of polling places before leaving the state, including Warren E. Bow Elementary School in Detroit, where there were no voters shortly before 2 p.m.

“We’ve got a shot to win here in Michigan, which is the most important state up today,” he said after several campaign volunteers greeted him. “The differences between us and Joe Biden — on our voting records — are pretty clear.”

Sanders has been hitting Biden for supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the mid-1990s, which many in Michigan have criticized for sending auto jobs and other manufacturing jobs to Mexico.

Biden held a big rally at Renaissance High School in Detroit on Monday night, bringing out some of his biggest name endorsements, including U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, as well as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist.

Meanwhile, Biden on Tuesday got into a heated exchange with a man on the subject of guns at Fiat Chrysler's Mack Assembly which is under construction in Detroit. When the worker began accusing Biden of “actively trying to end our Second Amendment right," Biden used a curse word to tell the worker he was "full of it" and said while he supports gun ownership, he supports prohibiting certain weapons and limits on ammunition someone needs.

“Do you need 100 rounds?” he asked, shushing an aide who tried to end the conversation.

Election could come down to younger voters, Trump

Aside from long lines for same-day registration to vote in East Lansing and Ann Arbor, and isolated problems with voters having trouble finding the correct polling places and being asked for photo identifications they were not required to produce, Election Day in Michigan went “relatively smoothly,” said Sharon Dolente, voting rights strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, who was monitoring problems at precincts.

The lengthy lines to register are “frankly completely unacceptable,” Dolente said, adding that more planning and training is needed to provide “extraordinary customer service” to voters.

As results began to be tabulated, however, election watchers, pundits and the campaigns were looking for clues as to who might have the edge.

Specifically, poll results suggested that Sanders had a clear advantage with younger voters. The Free Press poll showed he had an edge of 58%-17% over Biden among voters ages 18-34. Biden, however, had a bigger edge of 65%-14% with voters over the age of 50 — which was expected to be a much larger portion of the electorate.

Similarly, Biden had a clear advantage with voters who consider beating Trump in November to be the most important quality in a candidate. Early exit polls reported by the Associated Press on Tuesday evening said close to 90% said it was "very important that a nominee can beat Trump," which could indicate good news for Biden.

That wasn't the only good news Biden has received in recent days.

The Michigan Secretary of State's Office reported that 36,574 voters had re-cast or "spoiled" previously cast absentee ballots as of Monday. Since a number of moderate candidates, including former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, have gotten out of the race over the last two weeks and endorsed Biden, those re-cast votes were expected to benefit his chances.

But with Sanders' 2016 upset still fresh in mind, many voters were unsure of the outcome going into Tuesday night.

“He cares about people of color,” Peyton Burchfield, 20, of St. Joseph, an economics sophomore at Michigan State University, said of Sanders, as he waited with a friend to register to vote.

At Power Middle School in Farmington Hills, what had been a light crowd picked up at lunchtime. Gail Shirey, 76, was among them. She voted for Biden, having made her decision weeks if not months ago.

"He's a moderate and I think this country needs to be calmed down, get rid of this chaos."

Romeo McNairy, 75, was sharing a ride with Shirey and also voted for Biden.

"Two things," McNairy said, when asked why he preferred Biden. "He worked with Obama. That's important to me. No. 2, he understands government."

Contact Todd Spangler:tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler. Read more onMichigan politics and sign up for ourelections newsletter. S