Breaking: Bernie Sanders drops out of Democratic primary

According to multiple outlets, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has suspended his presidential campaign.

Sanders spent a brief period of time as the national Democratic front-runner, but as other Democratic rivals dropped out and coalesced around former Vice President Joe Biden, his campaign was stymied on Super Tuesday and each primary only dropped him further behind Biden in pledged delegates. His only remaining hope had been to force a contested convention, which would have been unlikely to select him in any case.

Sanders had, until recently, steadfastly resisted calls to drop out of the race, insisting that he had a "narrow path" to the nomination. But the specter of Democratic voters standing six feet apart in line to vote in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary may have been a motivating factor in encouraging Sanders to give up his quixotic quest.

In the absence of any truly shocking events, then, it seems likely that Biden will be the Democratic nominee. Democrats are said to be still debating internally whether to even hold a live convention in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sanders has announced that he will hold a live event where he is expected to make the announcement official at 11:45am Eastern Time on his website.