What is Super Tuesday and why is it important?
There is no national primary for US presidential nominations, but Super Tuesday (March 3) is as close it gets. That’s the day when the most states hold nominating contests, the most voters have a chance to go to the polls, and the most delegates will be allotted to candidates. More than a third of all delegates for the Democratic National Convention are up for grabs on this one day.
What happens on Super Tuesday will shed some light on the big questions around the Democratic presidential primary — and there are a lot more questions than usual at this point in an election cycle.
Here’s what you should know.
When is Super Tuesday?
It’s March 3. It will be the first big primary day after the four early nominating states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — hold their votes.
Super Tuesday is a popular day to hold a primary because so many states want an early say in who gets the nomination. So they’ve clustered as early as they can without stealing any thunder from the first four states, which have deals with the Democratic National Committee to go in the order they do. (Republicans also can vote in their presidential primaries in most Super Tuesday states, but since President Trump doesn’t face a serious challenger we’re focusing here on the Democrats.)
Super Tuesday is relatively early in the primary process; there will be Democratic primaries and caucuses happening all the way until June.
Which states are voting on Super Tuesday and how many delegates are at stake?
Fourteen states and one US territory will hold nominating contests on Super Tuesday, to award 1357 delegates. The states are across the US — literally from California to Maine — and include heavily Democratic Massachusetts, traditionally Republican Texas and
Oklahoma and more in-between states like Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia. Democrats who live in American Samoa will also caucus on Super Tuesday, and Democrats who live abroad will begin casting ballots.
It’s the delegate total, not the sheer number of votes, that counts when figuring out who wins a party’s presidential nomination. Each state is allotted a certain number of delegates based on a formula of population and weight in the Democratic Party. The state parties then award delegates to the candidates based on the votes they receive. The first candidate to get a majority of the nearly 4000 delegates wins the nomination.
This year, Super Tuesday is even more consequential because California moved its primary up to March 3 — 30 per cent of the delegates awarded on Super Tuesday will come from California. No one can win the nomination on Super Tuesday alone, but doing well that day can get you a long way toward winning a majority of the 3979 delegates up for grabs. Thirtyfour per cent of delegates are offered on Tuesday. That’s more than any other single day in the nominating contest. Before Super Tuesday, less than 5 per cent of delegates will have been allotted. After: 38 per cent.