Mirroring the state and much of the country, Martha’s Vineyard threw strong support to former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary on Super Tuesday. Mr. Biden won commanding victories in all three down-Island towns and edged out Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in West Tisbury.

Unlike 2016, when Mr. Sanders won every Island town as the state tilted toward former Sen. Hillary Clinton, Chilmark and Aquinnah were the only Island towns to go for Mr. Sanders in 2020. And banking on a victory in her home state, Sen. Elizabeth Warren came in a disappointing third — in the state, on the Island, and in every town but Chilmark and Aquinnah, where she came in second and fourth. On Thursday, Senator Warren announced she had dropped out of the race.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who finished in fourth Islandwide and in the state, also dropped out of the race this week.

Islandwide, Mr. Biden finished the day with 36 per cent of the vote, while Mr. Sanders took 30 per cent. Ms. Warren, who came in third place, took 23 per cent and former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg had 13 per cent throughout the Island.

On the Republican side, President Donald Trump handily defeated former Gov. Bill Weld, earning over 80 per cent of the vote throughout the Island.

The lead-up to the primaries Tuesday had been relatively quiet on the Island. Political yard signs and bumper stickers, common around the Vineyard in local elections, were almost non-existent on Tuesday, and the only presidential candidate who held a public campaign event on the Island, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, had dropped out of the race last Saturday.

But the lack of visible campaigning did not stop Democrats from flocking to the polls, or registering to vote. Almost every town reported an uptick in voter registration, compared with the 2016 presidential primary. Edgartown had approximately 200 more registered voters over 2016, while West Tisbury has about 80 more.

When polls opened at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, lines of voters ready to cast ballots began snaking out of the Oak Bluffs library polling station. Similar turnout was apparent throughout the day in Tisbury, where approximately 25 per cent of eligible voters in town had already cast ballots by noon. Town clerk Hilary Conklin said the flow of voters had been constant.

“We want to break the last primary’s record,” Ms. Conklin said. “One minute it will look like it’s starting to slow down, then boom, lots of people come in at once.”

But by the day’s end, voter turnout numbers hovered at around 40 per cent throughout the Island — down by about five per cent from the 2016 primary totals. Numbers were stronger in West Tisbury, where turnout broke 51 per cent.

But if overall turnout was down, Democratic voter turnout was up from 2016. That year, both parties had a competitive presidential primary, with more Republicans coming to the polling booths than in 2020 and raising overall turnout numbers. For example, more Edgartown Republicans voted for President Trump in 2016 than the total number of Edgartown Republicans who voted in 2020, a difference of about 200 voters.

Voting was brisk in West Tisbury all day Tuesday. — Mark Alan Lovewell

In Edgartown this year, Democratic voter turnout was up from 1,030 voters in 2016 to 1,263 in 2020. The trend was similar in Tisbury, where Democratic voters increased from 1,232 in 2016 to 1,332 in 2020. In Chilmark, Democratic turnout was up 40 per cent, increasing from 382 in 2016 to 535 in 2020. Other towns experienced a similar uptick in Democratic voters.

Mr. Biden was heavily favored in the Island’s four largest towns. He handily won Edgartown and Oak Bluffs, defeating Mr. Sanders by 11 percentage points in each town. He earned 458 votes to Mr. Sanders’ 317 in Edgartown, and 493 votes to Mr. Sanders’ 340 in Oak Bluffs. The vote was closer in West Tisbury, where Mr. Biden’s 385 votes to Mr. Sanders’ 345 equated to a four-point margin of victory. In Tisbury, Mr. Biden won by three points over Mr. Sanders.

The night was slightly better for the more liberal candidates in Aquinnah and Chilmark, where Mr. Sanders scored victories in the small up-Island towns. In Chilmark, he defeated Ms. Warren with 143 votes to her 134. Mr. Biden came in third with 131. In Aquinnah, Mr. Sanders won by nine percentage points over Mr. Biden, with 67 votes to Mr. Biden’s 51.

The results mark a major turn from 2016, when Mr. Sanders garnered 50 per cent of the vote in every Island town, soundly defeating Ms. Clinton. That year the Island preference differed from the rest of the state, which narrowly favored Ms. Clinton.

On Tuesday, the Island results almost exactly matched those throughout the rest of the state, which Mr. Biden won with 33 per cent of the vote to Mr. Sanders 26. Ms. Warren came in third with 21 per cent. much like her showing on the Island.

Massachusetts represented 91 of the 1,357 Democratic delegates that were up for grabs throughout the country. On Tuesday, Vineyarders joined millions of other Americans who had their voices heard at polling stations nationwide. And in classic Vineyard fashion, the Democratic turnout on the Island was joined by an even stronger turnout for their pets.

Dogs were commonplace in all the down-Island towns, and one voter in Oak Bluffs even brought an emotional support Macaw, the tropical white bird accompanying its owner to the ballot box. Despite its squawks, the bird did not disrupt the voting flow, town clerk Laura Johnston said. In fact, the Macaw was seen as a welcome non-partisan voice.

“He behaved and was a good bird,” Ms. Johnston said. “He didn’t have anything political to say.”

The rest of the Vineyard did.

Aaron Wilson contributed reporting.