Super Tuesday Delivers Big Wins for Trump and Biden as Candidates Inch Closer to Rematch
There were no big surprises on Super Tuesday as both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump rolled in their respective primary elections. Here is a recap of Super Tuesday and what the results mean for the 2024 presidential election.
Trump Continues Domination
There does not appear to be any stopping Trump as he continues to rack up delegates in his road to wrap up the GOP nomination.
The former president was declared the winner of the Tuesday primaries in states such as Virginia, California, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Maine, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Colorado. Trump is looking to pad his lead against his lone competitor left standing, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
It takes 1,215 delegates out of a total of 2,429 to win the GOP nomination. Although it was mathematically impossible for Trump to reach that benchmark on Super Tuesday, there is the chance that he can win enough delegates to meet the threshold by Tuesday, March 12.
States that are holding primary elections or caucuses on March 12 include Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Washington.
Vermont was the only state that Haley came out on top of during Tuesday's busy slate of primaries. She won the 17 delegates up for grabs in the Green Mountain State.
Super Tuesday states doll out over a third of the available delegates, making the day the most important of the primary season. No Republican has been able to secure the presidential nomination without first winning the majority of the delegates awarded on Super Tuesday.
Pressure on Haley to Drop Out Despite Winning Vermont
Despite winning the state of Vermont, the pressure is mounting for Haley to drop out of the race. She spent the evening in her home state of South Carolina watching the returns as some GOP leaders pressure her to suspend her campaign so that the party can unite behind Trump and focus on winning the presidential election.
Haley's campaign has spent the last few weeks defending the decision to stay in the race, promising to remain engaged until at least Super Tuesday.
Biden Also Comes Out Victorious
In no surprise, Biden also came out of the night victorious. While he did not face any major competition during this primary season, Biden is still looking to solidify support and rally the Democratic Party around his agenda.
In a statement released Tuesday evening, Biden warned that a second Trump term would result in "chaos, division, and darkness."
Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips said that he will assess the results of Tuesday's elections and use that data to make a decision about the future of his campaign in the coming days. The Minnesota Democrat has repeatedly said that he is worried that Trump will defeat Biden in the general election.
Other Key Results
While all eyes were on the likely presidential candidates, Super Tuesday also featured a number of additional key races in the House and the Senate. Rep. Adam Schiff is projected to easily advance to the California Senate race.
California uses an open primary system, meaning that all candidates run on one ballot, regardless of party affiliation. The top two vote-getters advance to the general election. Republican Steve Garvey took second place for the right to compete with Schiff in the general election. The winner will take over the seat left behind by the late Dianne Feinstein.
In another consequential race, North Carolina voters decided that Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein will compete for the governorship in the fall.
In Texas, Rep. Colin Allred is projected to win the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat. Allred will face off against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in the November election. Allred currently represents the Lone Star State's 32nd Congressional District, covering the suburbs outside of Dallas.
Taylor Swift Encourages Voters to Get Out and Participate
There was a significant amount of anticipation leading up to Super Tuesday. Even pop star Taylor Swift got in on the action by encouraging her 282 million Instagram followers to exercise their right to vote.
Although Swift is currently in Singapore touring, she posted a message on her Instagram to help get out the vote. Swift reportedly voted in the primary in her adopted home state of Tennessee through mail.
Although Swift endorsed Biden in the 2020 presidential election, she has yet to throw her support behind any specific candidate during this election cycle.
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Announces Impending Retirement
In other big political news on Tuesday, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced that she will not run for re-election this November at the end of her term. The loss of the independent senator will mark a meaningful shakeup in the chamber.
Sinema is known for her commitment to working to bridge party division and unite Democratic and Republican leaders on key issues. In her announcement, Sinema said that she still believes in her strategy as a negotiator but does not believe that the country wants that approach.
Arizona is a battleground state that will be pivotal in determining the political landscape of the nation moving beyond 2024. Biden barely edged out Trump in the Grand Canyon State in 2020, winning with a margin of less than one percentage point.
Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and former Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake are expected to duke it out for the coveted senate seat left behind by Sinema.