Capitol Report: Warren loses to Biden in Massachusetts primary in big blow to her campaign

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Former Vice President Joe Biden scored a surprise win in the Democratic primary in Massachusetts on Tuesday night, as he topped Elizabeth Warren, the state’s senior senator, and Bernie Sanders, the senator from neighboring Vermont.

Networks called the close race around 11 p.m. Eastern, three hours after polls had closed in the Bay State.

The win came on a strong night overall for Biden, who had been declared winner in eight states by 11 p.m., while Sanders had won four states, including California, the night’s biggest prize.

See: Biden racks up string of Super Tuesday wins

And read: Super Tuesday live blog — Biden wins big in South, while Sanders gets California

The outcome in her home state’s primary was a blow for Warren’s campaign, even as she refused to describe Massachusetts as a “must-win” state over the weekend. It’s hardly a good look for a White House hopeful to lose his or her home state, though, and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida dropped out of the 2016 Republican primary after he lost to Donald Trump in the Sunshine State.

Warren’s campaign over the weekend signaled she would stay in the Democratic presidential race until the party’s convention in July, saying it’s “built to compete in every state and territory and ultimately prevail at the national convention in Milwaukee.”

The Massachusetts politician’s campaign had scored just eight delegates ahead of Super Tuesday’s voting, and it showed some money trouble in the last round of financial disclosures, revealing it borrowed $400,000, though the campaign then managed to raise $29 million in February.

Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown, known for his Reformed Broker blog and his commentary on CNBC, predicted that Warren soon would exit the White House race because of her performances in Massachusetts and Oklahoma, where she grew up.

“Stocks will be even more relieved at Warren’s coming concession as they are at Biden’s big showing,” Brown said in a tweet on Tuesday night. “Wall Streeters have always secretly been more afraid of her than anyone else given her domain expertise.”

Related: Survey of investors shows growing anxiety over Warren’s rise in presidential polls

Other investing strategists have pinned the stock market’s SPX, -2.81% DJIA, -2.94% recent slide in part on fears of a Sanders presidency.

“Now seriously, who predicted Biden would win in Massachusetts?” tweeted Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “Warren is US senator from MA and Sanders has been very popular there.”

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