Joe Biden
Joe BidenReuters

Former US Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday won the Kansas Democratic primary, according to a release from the state party.

Biden won 76.9% in the vote-by-mail contest run by the state party, which implemented ranked-choice voting this year.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who dropped out of the race last month but remained on the ballot, won 23.1%.

Despite the competition for the Democratic nomination effectively ending with Sanders' suspension, the party still received more than 145,000 ballots.

"The KDP offers its congratulations to former Vice President Joseph Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders for receiving delegates from the Sunflower State. Kansas Democrats made history in this election with record participation levels along with demonstrating how a vote-by-mail election can protect voters and our Democracy, even in the most uncertain of times," Kansas Democratic Party Chairwoman Vicki Hiatt said in a statement quoted by CNN.

"We are confident the enthusiasm and engagement seen during the 2020 Primary will only continue to grow and translate into Democratic victories up and down the ballot in November," Hiatt continued.

The campaigns announced a joint agreement last week under which Sanders would keep all the delegates he earns, despite a Democratic National Committee rule that he was no longer eligible for hundreds of them because he dropped out of the race.

Since Sanders dropped out of the race, Biden has received the backing of several high-ranking Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Biden has also been endorsed by Sanders himself and by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who had also sought the Democratic nomination but dropped out.