Biden takes lead, but Washington state primary still too close to call



SEATTLE -- Former Vice President Joe Biden has taken the lead in Washington state's Democratic presidential primary, but the race is still too close to call as ballots continue to be counted.

The latest results, released late Wednesday afternoon, have Biden at 35 percent and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders at 33 percent.

Biden led Sanders by a little more than 16,000 votes out of nearly 1.2 million mail-in ballots counted.

Here's where the delegate count stands as of Thursday morning: Biden has 854 delegates and Sanders has 686. Both are still far from securing the nomination, and Sanders has pledged to continue his campaign.

Biden won four more states in Tuesday's primaries, including Michigan. He also won Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho, showing strength with working-class voters and African American voters. Sanders won North Dakota.