Joe Biden wins Alaska Democratic primary after Bernie Sanders suspends campaign

Joe Biden has won the Alaska Democrats’ party-run presidential primary, beating Sen. Bernie Sanders days after Sanders suspended his campaign.

Biden beat Sanders Saturday 55.3 per cent to 44.7 per cent. A total of 19,759 votes were cast.

Biden gets 11 delegates and Sanders gets 4. Sanders would have won more delegates but after ending his bid for the nomination last week, Sanders is no longer eligible to win delegates based on the statewide vote in primaries and caucuses, according to Democratic National Committee rules. Sanders is, however, still eligible to win delegates based on vote totals in individual congressional districts, which is why the AP allocated four delegate to Sanders in Alaska.

Overall, Biden has 1,228 delegates and Sanders has 918, according to the count by The Associated Press.

Casey Steinau, chairwoman of the state party, said Sanders, along with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who also have suspended their campaigns, asked to be included in the tallies.

The primary itself was new to Alaska Democrats, who moved from their traditional caucuses to a primary for this year’s race in a move Steinau said was aimed at increasing participation. It used rank-choice ballots.

The party said it sent in early March ballots to every person who was registered as a Democrat as of mid-February, more than 71,000. The party also included voter registration forms and downloadable ballots on its website.

Ballots had to be received by Friday to be counted, the party said.

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