Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email
Joe Biden has won the Democratic primary in Oklahoma , a state that Bernie Sanders bagged in 2016.
Going into Super Tuesday, the former vice president was projected to take the state by around seven points.
Early returns from the state, which has 39 nominating delegates and 7 electoral college votes in the general election, suggested Mr Biden was set to win by 9 points or more.
It was one of a succession of eastern and southern states the 77-year-old was projected to win, in one of the most crucial dates on the election calendar.
He also won Virginia and was projected to win North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.
Show all 29 1 /29Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states An anti-dairy protester is led away after storming the stage at Joe Biden's Super Tuesday event in Los Angeles, California
EPA
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Bernie Sanders cheer as results are announced at a Super Tuesday party in Texas
AFP/Getty
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Joe Biden hold up an election pooster from Barack Obama's 2008 run at a Super Tuesday event for the Democratic contender
Reuters
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Bernie Sander takes to the stage before supporters during his Super Tuesday event in Vermont
EPA
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Bernie Sanders cheer as results are announced at a Super Tuesday party in Texas
AFP/Getty
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Bernie Sanders cheer as results are announced at a watch party in Texas
AFP/Getty
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Joe Biden gestures to suppporters at a Super Tuesday event for the Democratic contender
AP
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Elizabeth Warren waves to supporters at a rally in Michigan as results come in following Super Tuesday
Getty
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A spray painted mural of presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders on the side of a building in Kirby, Vernont
EPA
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Bernie Sandes cheer at a Super Tuesday rally in Vermont
Getty
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Supporters of Elizabeth Warren hold sings and cheer in Cambridge
Getty
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren leaves the voting booth at the Graham & Parks School in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Getty
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A poster for sale at a rally for Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday in Vermont
Getty
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democratic voter Elliot Zaagman wears a protective mask as he poses for a photo after casting his ballot in Bangkok, Thailand
EPA
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Daisy, a Golden Retriever, outside a polling in San Diego. 1,357 Democratic delegates are at stake as voters cast their ballots in 14 states and American Samoa on what is known as Super Tuesday
Getty
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (greets fellow voters after casting his ballot in his state's primary election at the Robert Miller Community Center in Burlington, Vermont
Getty
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A first time voter stands behind a voting booth in a polling location for the North Carolina primary
Reuters
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg takes part in his Super Tuesday night rally in West Palm Beach, Florida
Reuters
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Fourteen states are holding their primaries with more than one third of the total pledged delegates in the Democratic primaries to be awarded on Super Tuesday
Getty Images
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren and her husband Bruce Mann greet supporters as they walk to a polling site to vote on Super Tuesday in Cambridge, Massachusett
EPA
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Voters cast their ballots at a polling location inside an elementary school on Super Tuesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota
EPA
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states
AP
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democratic voter Le'ana Freeman poses for a photo after casting her ballot at a polling station in Bangkok
EPA
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Voters arrive to cast their ballots at a polling location inside Hunter House at Nottoway Park in Vienna
EPA
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Democrat Jamie Wilson gets a sticker after voting in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas
AP
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A Polling Place sign in the border town of Hidalgo, Texas
EPA
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A girl carries her mothers ballot to the table where she will fill in her choice at the Taylor Elementary School polling location in Arlington
Getty Images
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states A man wearing an 'I Voted' sticker and a 'Bernie Abroad' badge after voting in the American presidential primary in Oxford, England
Getty Images
Super Tuesday: Lively scenes as results flood in across 14 states Stickers for people who vote
AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders won his home state of Vermont and was projected to win Colorado, among the early states to post results.
Two of the other candidates contesting Super Tuesday have their own relationship with the state of Oklahoma.
Elizabeth Warren was born in Oklahoma City and grew up in the state.
Yet early results suggested she was set to come in behind not just Mr Biden, but also after Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg.
It was unclear whether whether the Massachusetts senator would meet the 15 per cent vote requirement to qualify for a share of the delegates.
In 2016, Mr Sanders won the Oklahoma primary, defeating Hillary Clinton 52-42.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies