to the Democratic race …

“Hello, hello, hello, hello!”

“Here's what is clear.”

“I don't know what's going to happen later tonight.”

… and establish whether there was one clear

front-runner or maybe two clear front-runners,

or no front-runners at all.

We've covered contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada

and South Carolina.

“Can I get you to wear a button?”

“I'm with the press.”

“Sure I know, I'm just trying.”

And now we've arrived at Super Tuesday.

Super Tuesday is the single most important date

on the primary calendar.

You have more than a dozen states and territories

voting at the same time.

And it is the first real test of which

candidates are drawing broad national appeal.

“Winston-Salem, thank you!”

“Hello, Denver!”

“Tennessee will deliver.

This is the Volunteer State.”

The biggest prizes on the map

are Texas and California.

But all told, you're looking at about a third

of all the delegates that are at stake

in the Democratic primary are at stake on Super Tuesday.

This was a good night, especially for Joe Biden.

“It's a good night!

It's a good night!”

We have seen that Biden has been regaining traction

in the race over the last couple of days.

“It ain't over, man.

We're just getting started.”

But he pulled off a series of big wins and upsets

in places where even a newly revived Biden

campaign wasn't terribly optimistic about winning.

Over the last few days, we have

seen an extraordinary coalescing of support

around Joe Biden.

“I am ending my campaign and endorsing Joe Biden!”

When he collected those endorsements on Monday

from Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar,

that only accelerated his new momentum.

So many of Joe Biden's most important and

biggest victories on Super Tuesday came in states

where black voters make up either a majority

or a very, very large share of the primary electorate.

“We just got in from Alabama.

We won Alabama!”

Joe Biden edged out a narrow victory in Texas,

but it was a close outcome.

And Bernie Sanders recorded very significant support,

especially from Latino voters and progressives.

This was a solid night for Bernie Sanders.

This was not some massive setback.

It was not the massive breakthrough

that his campaign hoped it would be.

But what we did see him do, was continue adding significantly

to his delegate count in a series of states

where his progressive base was strong.

“Hi, my name is Tom.

I'm from the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.”

Most importantly, California.

In his speech on election night …

“This will become a contrast in ideas.”

… Bernie Sanders made it pretty clear

that in the coming weeks he is going

to be going after Joe Biden even more aggressively.

“One of us in this race led the opposition to the war

in Iraq — you're looking at him.”

It was not such a good night for Michael Bloomberg

and Elizabeth Warren.

Warren has needed to make a comeback,

and she did not carry a single state.

She even came in third in her home state of Massachusetts.

This was the first time that Michael Bloomberg's name

appeared on a ballot in this Democratic primary.

He spent hundreds of millions of dollars

on advertising, and other campaign operations

in the Super Tuesday states.

In the end, he only won a single contest

in American Samoa.

Ultimately, Bloomberg and Warren both dropped out.

For the first time in this campaign,

you really have the two wings of the Democratic Party

organized under a pair of clear front-runners.

Joe Biden, closer to the political center …

“Look, most Americans don't want the promise of a revolution.

They want results.

They want a revival of decency, honor

and character.”

… and Bernie Sanders, further to the left.

“From day one, we have been taking on the establishment.

It is no surprise, they do not

want me to become president.”

There is clearly a real hunger among many voters

in the party to coalesce quickly around someone

they see as an electable challenger

for President Trump.

Do you want some kind of salutation or —

Producer: “No, no.”

It's only March, and we've got a long way to Election Day.

The Times will continue covering the campaign

from all angles, from the campaign trail

to investigations to analysis and beyond.

For our latest reporting, go to nytimes.com/2020.

Thanks for watching.