It has been nearly a month since Former Vice President Joe Biden secured enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination, which resulted from early voting last month that took place in the District of Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, New Mexico, Montana, South Dakota, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Despite Biden’s lack of need for more delegates, on June 23 he won the Empire State’s 2020 Democratic presidential primary elections as well as Kentucky, who also voted that day. Biden led by 56 percent of the vote in Kentucky compared to Sen. Bernie Sanders who won 12 percent of reporting precincts. In New York’s primary Biden led with 67 percent of the vote, while Sanders held the 19 percent, less one percent of precincts unreported.
New York’s Democratic primaries had been scheduled to take place on April 28 and were canceled as a result of health concerns over the coronavirus, but were reinstated by a court order following certain legal challenges. Like New York, Kentucky’s May 19 primary had been canceled, and like many other states, has seen a substantial increase of mail-in voting.
Scheduled to take place in August, the Democratic Party will formally nominate Biden at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisc.
The presumptive Democratic nominee celebrated the landmark Supreme Court ruling that the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes LGBTQ people in its prohibition against employment discrimination based on sex. The decision was announced on June 15, calling it “a momentous step forward for our country.”
“Before today, in more than half of states, LGBTQ+ people could get married one day and be fired from their job the next day under state law, simply because of who they are or who they love,” Biden said in his statement.
“Today, by affirming that sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination are prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Supreme Court has confirmed the simple but profoundly American idea that every human being should be treated with respect and dignity,” Biden said. “That everyone should be able to live openly, proudly, as their true selves without fear,” he said.