It’s All About Delegates - The Presidential Primary Races – March 6th, 2024
Bottom Line: The busiest day of the nomination season is now behind us. 15 states and 865 pledged delegates were on the line for the Republican presidential candidates on Super Tuesday. It proved to be super for the two party front runners. Without significant competition it’s of no surprise that President Biden won big (though he did lose American Samoa to a candidate few have heard of). The biggest question mark at this point is how many voters place what amount to protests votes against Biden’s Israel-Hamas policies – which was somewhat considerable coming in at about 10% of the vote. It also wasn’t really a surprise that former President Donald Trump had a huge night, though he didn’t sweep the Republican contests either – having dropped the Vermont primary to Nikki Haley. The bottom line however, with not even half of the country having voted (23 states have vote thus far in the nomination season), the races are effectively over with the potential for Trump and Biden to win the necessary pledged delegates to clinch their party’s nominations next week.
Here's where the Republican candidates stand with pledged delegates (1,215 delegates needed to clinch nomination):
- Trump: 1051 (91% of available delegates)
- Haley: 86 (7% of available delegates)
As for the Democrats (1,968 delegates needed to clinch nomination):
- Joe Biden: 1568 (99% of available delegates)
- Uncommitted: 10 (>1% of available delegates)
- Jason Palmer: 6 - estimated (>1% of available delegates)
As for what’s next? Democrats in Hawaii vote today and Republicans in American Samoa vote on Friday. Next Tuesday contests will be held in six states or territories including Georgia, Mississippi and Washington. There’s little drama left in this nomination season and there’s a strong chance the Republican race is over before Florida votes on the 19th.