BERNIE SANDERS continues to rock the Democratic Party elite, taking the crucial state of California in the Super Tuesday primaries despite almost $1 million of “dark money” being spent to try to stop him winning the presidential nomination.

The Vermont senator swept to victory by an estimated 10 points on 34 per cent of the vote in the key west coast state, which allocates 415 pledged delegates to the electoral college.

Mainstream media outlets hailed the Super Tuesday results as an astonishing comeback for former vice-president Joe Biden, who won nine of the 14 states up for grabs.

However, they were closely fought contests, with Mr Biden unable to pull away from his left-wing rival and delegates to the Democratic Party national congress evenly shared.

Victory in California was the jewel of the night, as Mr Sanders’ large margin of victory handed him an estimated 202 delegates compared with just 142 for Mr Biden.

The former vice-president finished up with 453 delegates, while Mr Sanders won 382.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg was mocked for a dismal showing, having staked millions of dollars on the Super Tuesday contest. 

His exit from the presidential race was as swift as his entry, with the media mogul announcing his withdrawal soon after the announcement of the results revealed that he had failed to win a single state.

Mr Bloomberg joined failed Democratic wannabes Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar in swinging behind Mr Biden’s bid to be the party’s presidential candidate.

As the race tightens, the Democratic Party elite are throwing everything into efforts to block Mr Sanders’ charge to the nomination. 

It was revealed that almost $1 million of “dark money” was spent on political adverts attacking the Vermont senator in key states ahead of Super Tuesday.

Political-action committee the Big Tent Project Fund spent $868,000 on digital ads. The non-profit organisation is not required to disclose its donors under electoral law, a practice commonly known as dark-money funding.

The group had already spent almost $5m on adverts attacking the senator during the caucus in Nevada and the primary in South Carolina. 

The Democrat frontrunner said that “the Establishment is getting scared” of the success of his campaign.

Fellow contender Elizabeth Warren was said to be “assessing the path forward” in the contest after a poor showing on Tuesday, when she failed to win a single state and gained just 50 delegates.

Analysts suggested that she may decide to continue as a spoiler to draw left-wing support away from Mr Sanders.

The primaries now shift to the Midwest, including the key state of Michigan, where Mr Sanders is expected to perform strongly.