STAFF EDITORIAL
SGA members threw away more than our newspapers See STAFF EDITORIAL on page 5
COMMONWEALTHTIMES.ORG @theCT
THE INDEPENDENT PRESS OF VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY 2019 Newspaper Pacemaker Winner
VOL. 61, NO. 22 MARCH 4, 2020
BERNIE FALTERS ACROSS VA
SUPPORT STRONG IN VCU PRECINCTS
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont visited Richmond ahead of Super Tuesday but failed to take Virginia in the primary. Photo by Megan Lee
VCU students head to polls for Super Tuesday, many favoring Sanders
N
AN DO AH EN SH
21
A- K PP OC RA ANN H
PAGE
ROCKINGHAM
CULPEP
DI GREE
NE
AUGUSTA 33
GH
AN Y
H BAT
RLE
MA
E ALB
36
A
N VAN
NELSON
7
FLU
GOO
DICKENSON 25
TAZEWELL
SCOTT
29 PULASKI
RUSSELL SMYTH
LEE
BLAND
WASHINGTON 2
WYTHE
GRAYSON
Alexandria Bristol Buena Vista Charlottesville Chesapeake Colonial Heights Covington
8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
Danville Emporia Fairfax Falls Church Franklin Fredericksburg Galax
CAMPBELL
PITTSYLVANIA
HENRY
Hampton Harrisonburg Hopewell Lexington Lynchburg Manassas Manassas Park
D AN MB ERL CU
PRINCE EDWARD
AMELIA
NO TT OW AY
DINWIDDIE
HALIFAX MECKLENBURG
Martinsville Newport News Norfolk Norton Petersburg Poquoson Portsmouth
G
ILL
X
AN
IAM
D
NEW
6
BRUNSWICK
9 GREENSVILLE
29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35.
S
EE
N
DD
JAMES CITY
RY
SUR
N TO
MP
HA
D
MI
T
E INC E PR EORG G
T OU
QU
KEN
CHARLES CITY
SUSSEX
8
22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.
KIN
GW
HENRICO
26
LUNENBURG
22 PATRICK
30 CHESTERFIELD
CHARLOTTE
FRANKLIN
CARROLL 14
15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.
APPOMATTOX
BEDFORD
FLOYD
Independent Cities 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
MONTGOMERY
RO 32 AN 31 OK E
POWHATAN
KIN
Radford Richmond Roanoke Salem Staunton Suffolk Virginia Beach
NORTHUMBERLAND
ON
LANCASTER
LE
SE
X
STER
GILES
19
NO VER
AND
HM
SE
UCE
CRAIG
BUCKINGHAM
HA
CHL
RIC
ES
GLO
AMHERST
BOTETOURT
WESTMORELAND
CAROLINE
LOUISA
4
ROCKBRIDGE
KING GEORGE
VANIA SPOTSYL
ORANGE
1
FAIRFAX
PRINCE WILLIAM
N
SO
16
20
STAFFORD
ER
MA
D
LAN
H HIG
ON
RE
R WA
Biden Sanders
LOUD
ER UI UQ FA
Joe Biden defeated Bernie Sanders in Virginia. Sanders secured a majority in Charlottesville, Floyd County and Harrisonburg.
BUCHANAN
KE
AR
CL
AC K
ICK ER ED 38
FR
OM
Super Tuesday results by Virginia localities
Bloomberg’s spending has been a point of interest among voters and candidates alike. At his Richmond rally last Friday, Sanders expressed his disdain for Bloomberg’s tactics. “Bloomberg has every right in the world to run for president,” Sanders said, “but he doesn’t have the right to buy the president.” Bloomberg has spent $233 million on digital and TV ads, according to The Washington Post. Fox Business reported that his total spending was up to $312 million on ads as of Monday.
AC C
Although she isn’t a fan of the other candidates, Schwartz said she would vote for any Democrat in November. “The one person I would really have a hard time voting for is Biden,” Schwartz said. “I don’t think he’s coherent, and I don’t think he deserves to go into the White House again.” On Feb. 29, Biden gained traction with black voters in the South Carolina primary winning over three out of every five black voters, while Sanders received one out of every five black voters, according to CNN. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, announced his campaign on Nov. 24, late in comparison to other candidates.
LE
F
RESHMAN BUSINESS FOUNDATIONS major Jordan Gayle was going to vote for Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, but after he dropped out, he decided to vote for Bernie Sanders. Like many VCU students, Gayle said that he would vote for any Democratic candidate in November for the 2020 Presidential Election. “They’re all pretty better qualified than the current president,” Gayle said. Virginia participated in primaries on Tuesday, known as “Super Tuesday” along with California, Texas, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Colorado, Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Utah, Maine, Vermont and American Samoa. Despite enthusiasm for Sanders on college campuses, Biden pulled ahead of his main competitor on Super Tuesday, winning the majority of states, including Virginia, where he received 49 of 99 total delegates. Sanders received 19. After Super Tuesday’s 13 primaries, Biden’s delegate total sits at 305 and Sanders has 243. To receive the nomination, a candidate needs 1,991. After Amy Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Tom Steyer dropped out like clockwork days before Tuesday’s primaries, some voters had to pick another candidate at the last minute. Steyer dropped out on Saturday, Buttigieg on Sunday and Klobuchar on Monday. Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg are the remaining Democratic nominee hopefuls. Nationwide, Warren has 18 delegates and Bloomberg has secured eight. Emily Helft, a VCU employee at the Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity Office, said Buttigieg’s decision made it easier for her to vote for Elizabeth Warren.
“They kind of made the decision for me by dropping out,” Helft said. Helft also said there could be confusion because candidates who dropped out of the race still appear on the ballot. “I was very confused when I went to vote this morning that their names are all still on the ballot,” Helft said, “which I feel like is going to cause a lot of confusion for people whose votes aren’t going to count for anything.” Helft said she would vote Democratic in November, no matter who the nominee is. On Monday night, Klobuchar and Buttigieg announced their endorsements of Biden.
AL
KATHARINE DEROSA Contributing Writer
23
37
27 NORTHAMPTON
15
ISLE OF WIGHT 34
28
24 35
CHESAPEAKE
VIRGINIA BEACH
36. Waynesboro 37. Williamsburg 38. Winchester