NBC News projects Joe Biden wins Washington state primary

Bernie Sanders won the state in a landslide in the 2016 Democratic caucuses there.

Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Feb. 4, 2020.Scott Eisen / Getty Images file
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NBC News projects that former Vice President Joe Biden has won the Democratic primary in Washington state.

With 99 percent of the vote in Monday night, Biden was leading Bernie Sanders by 37.9 percent to 36.4 percent.

The pair appear tied for delegates from the state so far, with each getting 39, but the loss of the popular vote in Washington dampens Sanders' presidential hopes.

The senator from Vermont trounced Hillary Clinton in the state's caucuses in 2016, winning by 73 percent to 27 percent. (Clinton won a separate accompanying state primary; this is the first year Washington has conducted only a primary to award delegates.)

Washington, one of six states that had primaries on March 10, has a total of 89 delegates.

Biden also upset Sanders in the March 10 contest in Michigan, another state Sanders won in 2016.

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There was better news for Sanders on Thursday, when NBC News projected that he'd won delegate-rich California, which has 415 delegates at stake. An NBC News tally Friday showed that Sanders picked up 203 delegates in the Super Tuesday state, compared to Biden's 151.

Nationwide, the NBC count shows Biden with 871 delegates, compared to Sanders' 719.

The next big delegate opportunity comes Tuesday, when there are primaries in Florida, Illinois, Arizona and possibly Ohio. To win the Democratic nomination on the first ballot, a candidate must get support from at least 1,991 of the 3,979 total pledged delegates.