fbpx

RECENT NEWS

by the numbers

Sanders ekes out a narrow win over Biden in Israel’s Democrats Abroad primary

Among all votes cast abroad, Sanders received 58% while Biden received 23%

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, right, wait on stage to participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios in Washington, Sunday, March 15, 2020.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) scored a small primary victory in his presidential bid, receiving 9 pledged delegates to the convention following the primary for Americans living abroad, Democrats Abroad announced on Monday. Sanders also won a very narrow victory among voters in Israel, edging out former Vice President Joe Biden by just two votes. 

Details: The global primary — which awards 21 delegates, including 13 pledged delegates to the convention — took place March 3 through March 10. According to the results published on Monday, Sanders received 58% of the 39,984 votes, while Biden received 23%. While turnout was 15% higher than in 2016, Sanders’s vote total was slightly lower — the Vermont senator received 23,139 votes this year, compared to 23,779 in 2016, according to Democrats Abroad, the official international arm of the Democratic party. 

Israel: In Israel, Sanders received just two more votes than Biden — 236 to 234 — among the 638 voters who turned in their ballots in the country, leaving them each with 37% of the vote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who dropped out on March 5th, came in third place with 89 votes. In the 2016 primary, Sanders won 60% of the vote from Israel compared to Hillary Clinton’s 39% share. In 2016, just 412 votes were cast in Israel in the Democrats Abroad primary.

For the record: Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who withdrew his name from the presidential selection process on March 7th after suspending his White House bid, received 2.23% overall. In Israel, where Bloomberg launched a Jewish outreach effort, the former candidate received just 55 votes — 9% of those cast.

Delegate count: Sanders was awarded 9 delegates while Biden received 4. Formerly the frontrunner in the Democratic Party’s presidential primary, the Vermont senator has seen his standing drop following a series of losses after Biden’s resounding win in South Carolina in February. Biden has accumulated 1,215 delegates to Sanders’s 909.

Subscribe now to
the Daily Kickoff

The politics and business news you need to stay up to date, delivered each morning in a must-read newsletter.