Former US Vice President, Joe Biden secured enough delegates to officially win the Democratic presidential nomination to take on Donald Trump in November’s US presidential election.
A candidate needs at least 1,991 delegates to secure the nomination, which Biden successfully crossed late on Friday, after seven states and the District of Columbia held presidential primaries earlier in the week.
Biden noted in his verified Twitter handle on Friday, he had secured the delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination and would fight to “win the battle for the soul of the nation”.
The former vice president now has 1,995 delegates, with contests still to come in eight states and three US territories.
“It was an honour to compete alongside one of the most talented groups of candidates the Democratic party has ever fielded – and I am proud to say that we are going into this general election a united party,” Biden said on Friday in a statement.
Biden had been the presumptive Democratic challenger since Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race in April and endorsed his onetime rival’s run at the White House, Aljazeera reports.
At one point, the field had more than 20 candidates, with contenders dropping out as their chances faded.
Biden had a slow start and recorded his first win in South Carolina at the end of February.
After that, some other candidates seen as centrist or moderate dropped out before Super Tuesday votes on March 3, when the highest number of delegates were up for grabs and Biden won key contests.
It then became a two-horse race with Sanders, who was seen as a progressive candidate challenging incumbent Democrats.
While Sanders was a frontrunner after early races, Biden carried his Super Tuesday momentum into subsequent contests and increased his lead.
Sanders quit the race upon seeing no path to the nomination as the novel coronavirus outbreak made campaigning and outreach difficult.
Biden spent 36 years in the Senate before becoming Barack Obama’s vice president.
This is 77-year-old Biden’s third bid for the presidency and his success in capturing the Democratic nomination was driven by strong support from Black voters.
The former vice president is expected to announce his running mate on August 1, 2020.
