Bloomberg gets his first primary win in American Samoa, Gabbard 2nd

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

published March 4, 2020

If you needed a reminder that other candidates aside from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden are competing on Super Tuesday, look no further than American Samoa.

The U.S. territory held its Democratic presidential caucuses Tuesday, and billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was declared the winner, with 49.9 percent support, which amounted to 175 total votes. It's the first primary victory for Bloomberg, who wasn't on the ballots in the four early voting states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina). A late entrant into the Democratic presidential race, Bloomberg instead poured most of his vast resources into Super Tuesday and beyond.

American Samoa's second-place finisher was Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), who was actually born in the territory. Gabbard has mostly hovered on the fringes of the Democratic primary, but she's stuck around, and now has at least one delegate to show for it. The Democratic National Committee hasn't set criteria for the next debate yet, but it's been noted the party has been including any candidate who secures a delegate, which means the congresswoman could potentially return to the stage later this month. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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