Vermont Super Tuesday Results Live Updates: Bernie Sanders Wins Primary Election As Trump, Kasich Fight

UPDATE: 11:20 p.m. EST — Billionaire Donald Trump had a narrow lead over Ohio Gov. John Kasich in Vermont late Tuesday night. With nearly 80 percent of precincts reporting results, Trump had 32.1 percent of the vote. Kasich had 30.9, according to the Washington Post.

"Tonight I can say that we have absolutely exceeded expectations,” the New York Times reported Kasich said. “We are running, right now, neck and neck with Donald Trump in the state of Vermont. And that’s not exactly my home.”

Polls in the Green Mountain State closed at 7 p.m. EST, at which point Sen. Bernie Sanders was declared the winner of the Democratic primary.

UPDATE: 8:08 p.m. EST — About an hour after the last polls closed in Vermont Tuesday, billionaire Donald Trump was leading the Republican primary race with Ohio Gov. John Kasich close behind. With about 3 percent of precincts reporting, Trump had about 38 percent of the vote to Kasich's 26 percent, according to the Washington Post.

Various news outlets called the Democratic race in the Green Mountain State for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders earlier in the night.

UPDATE: 7:45 p.m. EST — Sen. Bernie Sanders told his home state he would keep fighting for a "world of peace" after he was declared the winner Tuesday night in Vermont against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"This campaign is not just about electing a president. It is about making a political revolution," he said in a sweeping speech that highlighted his campaign promises to usher in criminal justice reform and invest in education. He said he would win many delegates during the Super Tuesday election contests where Clinton is expected to win most states.

Original story:

Sen. Bernie Sanders won the strong backing of his fellow Vermonters on Super Tuesday. The Associated Press and ABC News called the Democratic primary there for Sanders almost immediately after the polls closed at 7 p.m. EST. In the Republican primary, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and billionaire Donald Trump were fighting for the top spot, according to Reuters.

Vermont is worth 16 Republican delegates and 26 Democratic delegates to their respective conventions, according to ABC News.

Sanders had been expected to win the Green Mountain State, where he serves as a senator, by a landslide. A Vermont Public Radio poll released last week found he had the support of about 83 percent of Democratic voters to rival Hillary Clinton's 9 percent.

Sanders is well known to the voters in a state where he has spent 35 years in elected offices, including as Burlington mayor and House representative. The candidate himself turned up to vote Tuesday, telling reporters he was "feeling great," the Burlington Free Press reported.

"After a lot of thought, I voted for me for president," he said.

The VPR poll put Trump in first place heading into Super Tuesday, with about a third of Republicans saying they planned to support the mogul. Kasich had the support of 10 percent of respondents.

There were 10 GOP and four Democratic hopefuls on Vermont's ballot Tuesday, but many of them had dropped out. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley were among the candidates who suspended their campaigns before Vermonters voted. Longshot Democratic candidate Roque "Rocky" de la Fuente remained on the ballot, according to Seven Days, a Burlington weekly.

Nationally, Trump continued to lead with a large margin. As of Tuesday morning he had about 42 percent of the vote, according to the HuffPost Pollster. Sanders, however, was trailing behind Clinton by about 14 percentage points.