Former Vice President Joe Biden was surging, having just won Washington state and a number of other Democratic primaries, extending his lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) in the race to be the Democratic nominee to face Pres. Donald Trump in the fall.
Then the coronavirus pandemic took center stage.
The political news for the past two weeks have been engulfed by Pres. Donald Trump's nearly daily press conferences and by the negotiations between the president and Congress on the $2.2 trillion stimulus aid package.
Thirteen presidential primaries have been delayed because of the coronavirus.
We asked KING 5 political analysts Scott McClellan and Ron Sims what effect the coronavirus pandemic might have on the 2020 presidential race.
"Certainly (Biden) had a lot of momentum going on in his campaign — and in his direction," said McClellan, a former White House Press Secretary under Pres. George W. Bush.
"(He) has been sidelined by this crisis," McClellan said. "It's been hard for him to gain any traction."
The former Vice President has been left to give interviews, and make statements from a home studio in the absence of public outings.
But Sims, who was in Pres. Barack Obama's administration, disagreed.
"The campaign will have its own momentum. Unique. It'll be unique, when we get to the fall, it'll be really intense," said Sims, who also was a former King County Executive.
Sims believes the race will be defined by how Trump handles the crisis, and how the economy reacts.
"Economic growth, he'll be defined by that, he won't be able to take all the credit for it, Democrats will say what they put in that legislation," Sims said.
The threat of infection has led to cancellation of rallies and events around the nation for all three candidates.