Biden projected to win all three states voting on Tuesday in Democratic race

WASHINGTON -- Former US vice president Joe Biden will win all three states holding a Democratic primary on Tuesday, according to projections by multiple U.S. media outlets.

With the projected wins in Arizona, Illinois and Florida, Biden is expanding his lead over Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the Democratic primary race of the 2020 presidential election.

The race in Florida, a battleground in the state for the 2020 presidential election, was a blowout for Biden. With about 93 percent of precincts reporting, he led Sanders by some 40 percentage points, according to CNN.

Speaking to supporters via livestream from Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said his campaign has "had a very good night."

"We moved closer to securing the Democratic Party's nomination for president, and we're doing it by building a broad coalition that we need to win in November," Biden said.

The Republican National Committee tweeted Tuesday night that sitting President Donald Trump has become the party's presumptive nominee for the 2020 presidential race after his victory in the Florida primary.

With Florida's 122 delegates awarded to Trump, he has 1,330 delegates, above the 1,276 needed to win the Republican nomination, according to his reelection campaign.

Trump is expected to formally become the Republican nominee at the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in August.

Arizona's Republican Party has canceled its caucus, and all delegates are expected to be allocated to Trump.

The primaries took place amid greater concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed 108 people out of 6,362 confirmed cases in the United States, as of Tuesday night.

Ohio was scheduled to vote on Tuesday but the state's health director ordered Monday night the closure of all polls based on the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Four other states, including Maryland and Georgia, have also postponed their 2020 presidential primaries.

The Democratic National Committee said Tuesday that they are urging "the remaining primary states to make voting easier and safer for both voters and election officials."

To win the Democratic presidential nomination, a candidate must receive support from a majority of all the 3,979 pledged delegates on the first ballot of the Democratic National Convention, which election officials said must be at least 1,991 delegates.

As of Tuesday night, Biden has grabbed 1,121 delegates compared with 839 for Sanders, according to The Associated Press.