Biden inches toward delegate win, Steve King ousted and other takeaways from Tuesday's elections

WASHINGTON – Amid the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests against systemic racism after the death of George Floyd, there was still an election on Tuesday. And it brought big wins, albeit expected, for former Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden swept all seven states holding presidential primaries Tuesday – Maryland, Indiana, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Montana, South Dakota and Pennsylvania. Washington, D.C., also voted in a presidential primary Tuesday, but results were not available early Wednesday morning. (Iowa had primaries Tuesday, but it's first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses were in February, when Biden finished in fourth place.) 

Biden’s wins in those states push him closer to meeting the 1,991-delegate threshold to be the Democratic nominee. He needs roughly 100 more delegates to cross that line.

More:Follow Tuesday primary results

Despite early losses in the primary season, Biden, 77, scored a huge comeback with a dominating primary win in South Carolina. He went on to rack up delegates on Super Tuesday a few days later. In early April, Biden became the presumptive nominee after Sen. Bernie Sanders, his last Democratic opponent still in the race, suspended his presidential campaign. 

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Here are other takeaways from Tuesday night:

Longtime Rep. Steve King loses Republican primary

Rep. Steve King of Iowa, a nine-term Republican congressman, lost his primary to Republican state Sen. Randy Feenstra. 

King represents Iowa's fourth congressional district, which is largely Republican.

King was stripped of his House committees last year after remarks he made to The New York Times about white nationalism. All four challengers used King's removal from those committees as evidence that they would be more effective in Congress while still sharing King's conservative values.

King denied supporting white nationalism and said those comments were taken out of context for political reasons. He described the backlash as an orchestrated campaign against him. King's comments were formally rebuked by the House of Representatives.

Many in his party distanced themselves from the congressman. Throughout the primary cycle, Iowa and national Republicans either stayed on the sidelines or endorsed Feenstra.

Shortly after news organizations announced Feenstra won the primary, his campaign manager Matt Leopold tweeted a photo of the state senator.

".@RandyFeenstra taking a call from Congressman Kevin McCarthy. Randy is ready to get to work," Leopold wrote in the tweet.

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel congratulated Feenstra in a tweet: "Steve King’s white supremacist rhetoric is totally inconsistent with the Republican Party, and I’m glad Iowa Republicans rejected him at the ballot box."

Rematch set in New Mexico swing district, Mfume keeps seat

Republican Yvette Herrell won the GOP primary for New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District.

Herrell will go up against incumbent and first-term Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., in the general election in November. The two competed against each other in 2018, when Small beat Herrell by less than 2 percentage points.

Republicans hope to flip the seat in the general election.

In Maryland, Rep. Kweisi Mfume won the Democratic primary for the state's 7th Congressional District, which was held by Rep. Elijah Cummings. After Cummings' death in October 2019, Mfume won a special election in April to serve the remainder of Cummings' term. 

Mfume, former CEO of the NAACP, defeated 18 Democrats running in that primary, including Maya Cummings, the widow of Elijah Cummings. 

Mfume will probably be elected in November for his first full term. Maryland's 7th Congressional District, which encompasses more than half of Baltimore and the majority of Howard County, is largely Democratic.

Attorney Teresa Leger Fernandez defeated former CIA operative Valerie Plame to win the Democratic nomination in New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District. Leger Fernandez overcame six competitors to win her party’s nomination to succeed U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján as he runs for U.S. Senate.

The nomination of Leger Fernandez, a professional advocate for Native American pueblo communities and voting rights issues, is likely to be decisive in the vast northern district where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-1.

In her first run for public office, Plame harnessed her fame as a former U.S. intelligence operative whose secret identity was exposed shorty after her diplomat husband disputed U.S. intelligence used to justify the Iraq invasion in 2003.

On the campaign trail, she emphasized her experience in speaking truth to power in Washington and her solidarity with people who feel betrayed by President Donald Trump.

Leger Fernandez upstaged Plame with support from a long list of advocacy groups for liberal causes and greater Latina representation in Congress. She landed prominent political endorsements from U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland of Albuquerque and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a former presidential contender.

Long lines at polling locations

Several states reported long lines at polling locations as voters headed to the ballot box for presidential, House and Senate primaries across the country. 

In Indianapolis, Carly Gonzalez, 27, who worked as a server but is out of work because of the pandemic, said she would wait all day to vote if necessary.

“There’s a lot of unrest, and I think people want to speak on it the only way we can as peacefully as possible,” she said.

The long lines at polling sites were the only significant issue reported statewide, said Ian Hauer, a spokesman for the Indiana secretary of state's office.

Many people in line said they requested absentee ballots, but they never arrived or did not arrive in time to mail them in.

Connie Martin has voted in every election since turning 18 in 1975. She requested an absentee ballot, but it came too late. Instead, she joined the line at Broad Ripple High School. November could be even worse, she said.

“If they get absentee ballots out in time, it won’t be, but of course, some people are trying to stop that from happening,” she said.

Long lines were also reported in Washington, where residents complained of waiting hours to vote, and Maryland.

Contributing: The Associated Press, Indy Star