JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. _ Democratic voters in Missouri signaled Tuesday they want former Vice President Joe Biden to take on President Donald Trump in November.
As votes were tallied, Biden backers were staring down a big win, rather than a repeat of four years ago when U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont split the delegate haul with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Shortly after polls closed, both The Washington Post and The New York Times declared Biden the victor in Missouri. So did The Associated Press and CNN.
Biden's campaign said Missourians sent a clear message Tuesday.
"This is the campaign that will send Donald Trump packing. This is the coalition that can not only win the Democratic nomination, but can propel Democrats to victory this fall," a statement said.
Statewide returns showed Biden with a healthy lead. With 66% of precincts reporting, he had 59% of the vote, compared to Sanders' 34%.
While Biden was cruising in many of Missouri's counties, Sanders was running close in Boone County, home to the University of Missouri.
In St. Louis, city voters had Biden ahead 55-25 with 27% of the vote tallied.
Tallya S. Wesley knew "in her soul" that Biden would win Missouri, she said at the campaign's watch party at McGurk's shortly after early vote tallies projected Biden the winner shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m.
"I told them at campaign headquarters that this was going to be an early win," said Wesley, a grandmother and outreach minister from St. Louis' Walnut Park neighborhood.
"You could feel the momentum shift after Super Tuesday _ we're serious now. We're in the ninth inning."
Gerri Horn, a Biden volunteer, said she was surprised by the early call but had been certain Biden would "win big" in Missouri. Of at least 30 voters Horn spoke to while canvassing houses recently along Delmar Boulevard and in Riverview, only one person was not a Biden supporter, she said.
"He can get both sides together to agree and work on issues," said Horn, 67, of Hazelwood.
Both Wesley and Horn, lifelong Democrats, were among a bustling crowd of Biden supporters at McGurk's shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday that included people who had volunteered for Biden's past competitors and St. Louis officials including Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed and Kevin O'Malley, former U.S. ambassador to Ireland under President Barack Obama.
On the Republican side, President Donald Trump, who won the state by 19 points in 2016, appeared ready to capture all 54 GOP delegates in his bid for a second term.
In a statement, Trump campaign spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez said the 92% support he's received shows Missourians are united behind the president.
"If Joe Biden is the best Democrats can put forward, Missourians can look forward to another four years of fairer trade deals, job growth, and tremendous tax cuts under President Trump's administration," she said.
Voters also could choose primary ballots for the Constitution, Green and Libertarian parties.
Voting opened in Missouri after Biden won big on Super Tuesday, including convincing victories in Southern states where African Americans make up large parts of the electorate _ Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
He also notched wins in Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Texas.
Among those backing Biden was Alie Kamara, a 34-year-old nurse's assistant in south St. Louis, who emigrated from Sierra Leone six years ago.
Kamara voted for Biden because of Biden's experience. The economy was strong under Obama's administration, Kamara said, and he is confident Biden can return the country to the same position.
"It worked well for this country," Kamara said. "I believe that if he is going to be president again, after being vice president, he is going to do the same thing again."
At a polling place in Dutchtown, Don and Pat Duncan were motivated in large part by the issues of health care and minimum wage in their votes for Sanders.
"I figure, I'm on Medicare, and if it works for me _ and I'm quite happy with it _ why not have it for everybody?" said Don Duncan, 68, a retired carpenter.
"This is the only country in the world where if you get sick you lose your entire life savings," he said. "It's about time the United States catches up with the rest of the world." Pat Duncan said she "probably could have gone either way" to vote for Biden or Sanders but opted for the latter because of his position for a $15 federal minimum wage.
"I get tired of hearing people have to work three jobs just to make it," she said. "I'm going to have to get a part-time job because we just can't make it on Social Security."
As the day started, Biden had 670 delegates and Sanders 574, according to The Associated Press.
Missouri was among five states voting Tuesday, with Michigan being the biggest prize. Sanders won there in 2016, but Biden was declared the winner Tuesday night.
Neither Biden nor Sanders spent time in Missouri until the weekend before the vote. Bloomberg blanketed the airwaves in the weeks leading to Super Tuesday. It was only in the past week that Biden and Sanders got on the air, with Biden spending the most.
There are 68 delegates at stake here Tuesday: 44 will be awarded based on performance in each congressional district, and the remaining 24 will be apportioned based on the state's popular vote.
Missouri also has 12 "automatic" delegates to the Democratic National Convention _ elected officials and party leaders _ who aren't bound by the statewide results and can support any candidate.
There were some hiccups at the polls.
Voters in St. Louis County experienced problems with the polling stations' poll books early Tuesday, said Eric Fey, Democratic director of elections.
The poll books were out of sync with receipt printers, but the issue was fixed by 7 a.m., Fey said.
"We have a manual backup process," he said. "It just took a while to fix that."
In north St. Louis, officials relocated the Ward 22 polling place on Martin Luther King Drive after a man backed a car into the building before entering and yelling threats, throwing things and pouring water on workers and voting machines.
In Kansas City, moments after he made a plea for people to get out and vote, Mayor Quinton Lucas was turned away from the polls and told he "wasn't in the system." He later learned his name had been entered into the system incorrectly and was able to cast his ballot.
For Republicans, the day was significantly different from the 2016 primary election, when Missouri voters gave Trump the nod over challenger Ted Cruz by less than one-half of 1 percent.
Clinton's margin was even closer over Sanders, who came within about 1,600 votes of the former secretary of state.
In 2016, Sanders had performed well in counties with universities, as well as places with strong ties to labor unions, including St. Charles, Jefferson, St. Francois and Lincoln counties.
As the field narrowed from more than 20 Democratic candidates to the two front-runners, endorsements for Biden began to break his way. After remaining silent on her pick in the run-up to the election, state Auditor Nicole Galloway, who is running for governor against Republican Mike Parson, announced Tuesday morning that she had voted for Biden.
Among those backing Biden were St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan and former Gov. Jay Nixon.
