Super Tuesday States: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Democrats Abroad, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia

Mar. 3 was no ordinary Tuesday.

It was Super Tuesday, a day when 14 states across the country voted for the party nominees at the same time. It’s a big day for presidential candidates; winning Super Tuesday can put a candidate on track to win the nomination. 

This year’s Super Tuesday cleared out several democratic candidates– Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Michael Bloomberg, and Elizabeth Warren– leaving behind only three: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and former Vice President Joe Biden, in addition to Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, who is polling at a fraction of a percent. While Biden was able to officially take the lead with 465 delegates, Sanders was able to take the delegate-rich California, helping him up to a total of 406 delegates. This close race between Sanders and Biden reflects the current schism between moderates and progressives in the Democratic Party.

Among those who dropped out is former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg. Bloomberg had previously spent over $500 million to put out ads and promote his campaign, hoping the publicity would be enough to win big on Tuesday. However, a lackluster turnout (46 delegates) made it clear that heavy advertising wouldn’t be enough to get him into the White House.

With all of these candidates dropping out, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has defied expectations by staying in the race, despite receiving only a single delegate on Super Tuesday. In an effort to get back in the running, Gabbard is asking Sanders and Biden to pressure the DNC to let her into the next debate. She tweets: 

“To keep me off the stage, the DNC again arbitrarily changed the debate qualifications. Previously they changed the qualifications in the OPPOSITE direction so Bloomberg could debate. I ask that you stand with me against the DNC’s transparent effort to exclude me from the debates.”

Many of the candidates who have dropped out are now endorsing one of the remaining candidates. Yang, Klobuchar, Buttigieg, and Bloomberg have all chosen to endorse Biden. Warren, however, as of March 12, has not chosen to endorse either candidate. While many question whether Warren will side with Biden as well, many of her campaign staffers have endorsed Sanders, indicating that a large contingent of her supporters would choose to vote for Sanders over Biden.

March 11, 2020

Yesterday, six more states voted for the Democratic Party nominee in what is considered by some to be a Second Super Tuesday- with a lot of the same results.

Biden continued to gain ground, winning over Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Idaho, while Sanders won North Dakota. Michigan hit the Sanders campaign especially hard– it was a state he won in 2016. The sixth state, Washington, is still reporting, with both candidates neck and neck. As of 10:00 tonight, Biden is over 150 delegates ahead of Sanders. The political website FiveThirtyEight now gives Biden a 99/100 chance to win the Democratic nomination in their latest poll.