More Caucuses, Primaries, and Super Tuesday

More+Caucuses%2C+Primaries%2C+and+Super+Tuesday

Caroline McFarland, Writer

In the past two weeks, 14 states have held their caucuses and primaries. The Nevada caucuses took place on Saturday, Feb. 20 for the Democrats and Tuesday, Feb. 23 for the Republicans. The South Carolina primaries took place on Feb. 20 for the Republicans and Feb. 27 for the Democrats. However, that only includes two of the 14 states. What about the other states? March 1, also known as Super Tuesday (one of the biggest dates in politics), is when 12 states weigh in on who they want as nominees. With that said, let’s look at who won:

The Nevada caucus resulted in a victory for Former (Fmr.) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side with 52.6% of the vote. Senator Bernie Sanders ended the night with 47.3% of the vote. Clinton was awarded 20 delegates to the National Convention, and Sanders inched close to Clinton with 15. On the Republican front, businessman Donald Trump won with 45.9% and gained 14 delegates. The runner-up was Senator Marco Rubio with 23.9%, acquiring seven delegates. In third place came Senator Ted Cruz at 21.4%, collecting six delegates.

The South Carolina Democratic primary concluded with Clinton’s victory at 73.5% and 39 delegates, and Sanders at 26% and 14 delegates. Trump won the Republican primary with 32.5%, effortlessly winning all of the state’s 50 delegates. In second place was Rubio with 22.5% and a close third place finish for Cruz with 22.3%. Due to the results, Fmr. Governor Jeb Bush permanently suspended his campaign.

Now here’s the fun part: Super Tuesday. Almost a quarter of the states voted on March 1: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia.

On the Democratic side, Clinton won 7 states: Alabama (77.8%, 44 delegates), Arkansas (66.3%, 22 delegates), Georgia (71.3%, 72 delegates), Massachusetts (50.1%, 46 delegates), Tennessee (66.1%, 42 delegates), Texas (65.2%, 144 delegates), and Virginia (64.3%, 61 delegates). Sanders, on the other hand, won 4 states: Colorado (59%, 38 delegates), Minnesota (61.6%, 46 delegates), Oklahoma (51.9%, 21 delegates), and Vermont (86.1%, 16 delegates).

On the Republican side, Trump had victories in 7 states as well: Alabama (42.4%, 36 delegates), Arkansas (32.8%, 16 delegates), Georgia (38.8%, 40 delegates), Massachusetts (49.3%, 22 delegates), Tennessee (38.9%, 31 delegates), Vermont (32.7%, 6 delegates), and Virginia (34.7%, 17 delegates). Cruz won in 3 states:  Alaska (36.4%, 12 delegates), Oklahoma (34.4%, 14 delegates), and Texas (43.8%, 99 delegates). Lastly, Rubio won Minnesota (36.5%, 17 delegates).

In total 16 states have voted so far, including Iowa on Feb. 1 and New Hampshire on Feb. 9. The apparent front-runner for the Democrats is Clinton with a total of 1,052 delegates, while Sanders barely scrapes 427. If you are wondering why Clinton has such a high number of delegates over Sanders, this is due to superdelegates, officials who pledge ahead of time to support a particular candidate. For the Republicans, the front-runner so far is Trump with 319 total delegates. Cruz is in a close second place with 226. The next events of this election take place on Saturday, March 5 with caucuses in Kansas, Kentucky, Maine (Republican), Nebraska, and a primary in Louisiana. The Democratic caucus in Maine will be held on March 6, along with a Republican primary in Puerto Rico.