Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton took huge steps in inching closer to securing the presidential nominations for the Republican and Democratic parties by racking up significant wins on Super Tuesday.
Super Tuesday is an enormous day in U.S. politics because it is when the largest number of states hold primary elections and caucuses. There is so much at stake because there are more delegates to the presidential nominating conventions to be won on Super Tuesday than on any other day of the primary season. This year there were 12 states that went to the polls with 1,032 delegates for Republicans and 595 for Democrats up for grabs.
Clinton and Trump trounced their competitors by both candidates capturing seven states. Despite his “New York values,” Trump had victories in conservative South states by taking Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, but also winning Massachusetts and Vermont which are more moderate.
Clinton distanced herself from Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders when she won in Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas and even Massachusetts, a state where Sanders was expected to have a strong showing since he is a Senator from neighboring Vermont. Sanders did win his home state of Vermont, as well as Oklahoma, Minnesota and Colorado.
Sen. Ted Cruz was a distant second to Trump, winning only three states, including his home state of Texas plus Oklahoma and Alaska. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio did not have a super Tuesday, only winning one state, Minnesota, his first victory of the primaries.
“He had a tough night. He is a lightweight,” Trump said about Rubio. John Kasich and Ben Carson are now the only candidates who are still in the race that have yet to win anything.
Cruz used his victory speech in Texas to encourage Carson and Kasich to exit the race so their votes could go to candidates that are more likely to be nominated by the GOP.
“For the candidates who have not yet won a state, who have not racked up significant delegates, I ask for you to prayerfully consider our coming together,” Cruz said. “I am the only candidate who has beaten Donald three times.”
With Kasich still in the race, he may have cost Rubio a win in Virginia. Kasich grabbed 9.4%, and Rubio lost to Trump by 2.8%.
Here is the delegate count.
Sanders is vowing to stay in the campaign, riding high on his grass-roots appeal.
“This campaign is not just about electing a president,” Sanders said at a rally on Tuesday night in Vermont. “It is about transforming America.”
“This is not a general election; it’s not winner-take-all,” Sanders announced. “If you get 52%, you get 48%, you roughly end up with the same amount of delegates in a state. By the end of tonight, we are going to win many hundreds of delegates.”
Clinton and Trump have taken extremely different paths to become the clear-cut front-runners. The former secretary of state is preaching unity, equality and trying to capture the minority vote. Meanwhile, Trump is seizing his power by enthralling Americans who are anti-establishment and weary of the current administration as well as politics as usual.
Here’s a refresher course on Super Tuesday.