❚ The Backstory: Inside the USA TODAY newsroom on Super Tuesday.
Audience editors Emily Brown and Alex Connor sit with the politics editors. As results are called out, one writes language for an alert, the other proofreads. They hit publish.
‘Virginia, Biden. Vermont, Bernie,’ politics editor Kristen DelGuzzi yells across our Washington newsroom. It’s Super Tuesday. The clock just hit 7 p.m.
Fourteen states and American Samoa held presidential primary elections Tuesday. Polls had just closed in Virginia and Vermont. News outlets project winners when exit polls or surveys leading up to and through the vote show an insurmountable lead for one candidate. Races are actually final as results come in.
The USA TODAY Network has newsrooms or reporters in all 14 Super Tuesday states. Throughout the night, they send feeds to local editors as well as those in D.C.
The Burlington Free Press was there earlier in the day as Bernie Sanders was swarmed by reporters at his polling place in Vermont. “You’ve increased the GDP of Vermont by 16%. We appreciate it,” Sanders joked before he and his wife, Jane, stepped into his Subaru Forester with a “Bernie 2020” sticker on the back hatch.
It’s 8 p.m., and we’re hearing about long waits at polls from our teams in Texas and California.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that those who get in line at some polling places at 7 p.m. CST could face three- to four-hour waits. Everyone in line by the time the polls close will be allowed to vote.
We’re watching.
In California, reporter Chris Woodyard notes that Los Angeles County alone has about 5.4 million registered voters, more than the electorates of 42 states. Because of the trend in early voting, the county cut neighborhood polling places (about 4,500) and created larger voting centers (about 1,000). This is the first major election under the new system, and many voters waited until Election Day. Also, a 20-minute power outage in part of the city temporarily shut down new voting machines.
More projections are made. Joe Biden wins Alabama and North Carolina. Mike Bloomberg wins American Samoa.
Bloomberg addresses supporters in West Palm Beach, Florida: “No matter how many delegates we win tonight, we have done something no one thought was possible,” he said. “In just three months, we’ve gone from 1% in the polls to being a contender for the Democratic nomination.”
Palm Beach Post reporter Christine Stapleton is there. Two hours before the event, she reported, about 100 Trump supporters assembled outside the convention center. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is in Palm Beach. “Most people couldn’t care less about Mike Bloomberg,” said Michael Barnett, chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party. “We’re here supporting Trump.”
Thirteen states held a Republican primary election. As expected, President Donald Trump won them all.
It’s just after 9 p.m. Oklahoma goes to Biden, Colorado to Sanders. Washington editor Caren Bohan calls out, ‘Biden projected for Tennessee.’
“Meanwhile,” quips editor Louie Villalobos, “Iowa, still no results.”
Audience editors Emily Brown and Alex Connor sit with the politics editors. As results are called out, one writes language for an alert, the other proofreads. They hit publish. In seconds, it appears on a million phone screens. Audience editor Elizabeth Shell creates graphics of each winner, immediately posted for our close to 14 million followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The Oklahoman talks to voters, including Biden supporter Dillon Smith, 42, of Oklahoma City. His first choice was Pete Buttigieg, who ended his campaign Monday.
“Well I was really excited to vote for Mayor Pete, but yesterday kind of changed those plans,” Smith said. “So I decided to follow Buttigieg’s advice and vote for Biden.”
Around 10 p.m., Minnesota and Arkansas are called for Biden. California, Massachusetts, Maine, Texas and Utah are too close to call.
Reporter Brianne Pfannenstiel is in Minneapolis, watching returns at Elsie’s Restaurant Bar & Bowling Center with about a dozen Biden supporters. Many had been pulling for home state Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who endorsed Biden after exiting the race.
“I was sad and disappointed but not shocked, because she’s smart and strategic and I know she wants the best chance to beat Donald Trump,” said Erin Zamoff, 49, an Edina resident. “Amy was my girl, so I was sad. But I love Joe, and I’m fully on board.”
Sanders speaks from his Vermont headquarters: “When we began this race for the presidency, everybody said it couldn’t be done. But tonight, I tell you with absolute confidence we’re going to win the Democratic nomination.”
Soon after, Biden speaks to supporters in Los Angeles: “It’s a good night and seems to be getting even better.”
While he’s speaking, Utah is called for Sanders.
At 10:50, Massachusetts is called for
Biden.
“Look how many states we’ve racked up,” Bohan says, “and it’s not even 11 o’clock.”
At 11:01 p.m., The Associated Press calls California for Sanders. The newsroom buzzes. This is very early.
Meanwhile, says 2020 reporter Rebecca Morin, “voters are still standing in line in Texas.”
As many wonder how AP can project so early, the wire service puts out a statement on its VoteCast research: “That election research captures the views of voters on whom they vote for, and why. The VoteCast survey found Sanders with a convincing lead in California, with no path for Mike Bloomberg and Joe Biden to catch up.”
Reporter Joey Garrison covers Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s bad night from Boston. “She not only won zero states, she didn’t finish second in any primary,” Garrison reported. “Her Massachusetts finish was actually her top-performing and the only state where she won more than 20% of the vote.”
Around 2 a.m., Texas is called for Biden, one of the night’s biggest surprises. Maine is still too close to call.
Around 3 a.m., our D.C. team begins to go home, a few folks staying behind for finish-up work. At 4 a.m., they hand off to our morning reporters and editors, jumping on the topics of the day. How did Biden turn around Texas? What does the path forward look like for Bloomberg and Warren?
At 10 a.m., the landscape shifts again. Bloomberg is out.
Stories are posted, alerts are sent. The news cycle rolls on. The next primary is just six days away.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for supporting USA TODAY. To receive this column as a newsletter, visit newsletters.usatoday.com and subscribe to The Backstory.