Sen. Bernie Sanders wins California primary

March 12 (UPI) -- Sen. Bernie Sanders won the biggest Super Tuesday prize -- California -- news outlets projected Thursday.

More than a week after Californians participated in the state's Democratic primary, a final count of mail-in votes and provisional ballots gave Sanders, I-Vt., the win. Both CNN and NBC News called the race in his favor, with 34.3 percent of the vote, or about 184 delegates.

Former Vice President Joe Biden won 27.6 percent -- good for an estimated 144 delegates. The remaining 81 delegates are unallocated, some going toward candidates who've since dropped out of the race, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who got 13.2 percent of the vote and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg who got 12.9 percent.

California is one of four states Sanders won on March 10, compared to Biden's nine. This primary season, Biden has 864 pledged delegates and Sanders has 711.

The two candidates will next face each other Sunday during a debate at CNN's Washington, D.C. The Democratic National Committee announced Thursday it won't have a live audience for the event as a precautionary measure due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The next primaries are scheduled for Tuesday in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio.