KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Within the first half hour of polls closing Tuesday night, Joe Biden was named the projected winner in Missouri’s democratic presidential primary.
His supporters believe the former vice president has a good chance of going against President Donald Trump come November.
Locally, with all precincts reporting in Kansas City, Biden lead with 31,434 votes compared to Bernie Sanders' 20,912 votes. Biden also led the polls in Jackson County, with 27,996 votes and Sanders earning 15,615 votes. In Platte County, Biden secured 60.49 percent of the vote, while Sanders received 35.09 percent.
Clay County had 98.77 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday night, with Biden still leading Sanders 16,986 votes to 10,427.
And there were moments of joy at a watch party at Waldo’s the Well Bar for those rallying around Biden – among them, Frances Farah.
"Even though he has been in positions of power. I mean, obviously in the Senate and as vice president. It's not, it's not the job that makes him – he makes the job work," Farah said.
Although she has not been on ‘Team Biden’ from the beginning, Farah got onboard once her other choice dropped out of the race. She wasn't alone.
"I like Joe Biden, but I think it took a little convincing," Tom Wyrsch said. "There was some of the others I wanted to see how they fared, how – their message – they deliver their message."
Manny Abarca, treasurer on the Kansas City, Missouri, Public Schools board of education, said Biden has a record of “working across the aisle.”
"So as we consider what we have now and the other alternative, Biden has the clear ability to lead and serve in both capacity,” Abarca said.
Supporters like Jalen Anderson, Jackson County 1st District at-large legislator, who addressed supporters at the watch party, said they believe this win plays big in other races.
"As Missouri shown itself tonight, it shows that we're going to go all the way to November,” Anderson said. “We're going to pick up the governor's seat. We're going to pick up the statewide seat for Joe Biden. We're going to expand our holdings in the state House and in the state Senate. But we're going to have to do that all together."
Farah said she thinks Biden can make a difference.
“I think he can bring hope to the country and hope he can bring dignity to the United States," she said.
Biden had 670 delegates heading into Big Tuesday. Missouri has 68 delegates at stake, though it wasn't immediately clear how many of those would go to Biden.
Voters in Michigan, Washington, Mississippi, Idaho and North Dakota also went to the polls.
On Super Tuesday, Biden earned the majority of delegates in 10 of the 14 states that took to the polls.
