Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Taryn Parsons at taryn.parsons@colorado.edu.
Trump and Clinton Dominate
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton dominated Super Tuesday — Trump, with staggering amounts of states; Clinton, with large vote percentages. Trump received the most delegates from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia, finishing with a total of 237 delegates on the night of March 1. Clinton took Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, finishing the night with 504 delegates.
Trump did not receive over 50 percent of the votes in any state, but the collective winnings may have been enough to push other GOP candidates out of the race. Cruz won the most delegates from Alaska, Oklahoma and Texas, finishing the night with 209 delegates, a close second to Trump due in part to Texas’ large contribution of 155 delegates.
Rubio, on the other hand, garnered a mere 94 delegates on Super Tuesday, only winning over Minnesota in the primaries. Kasich and Carson both received fewer than 20 delegates on Super Tuesday, perhaps signaling the end of their campaigns.
Clinton saw significant victories on Tuesday night, while Sanders received 164 fewer delegates than the democratic front-runner. Clinton received substantially greater amounts of delegates in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Sanders came in a close second in Massachusetts and won the contests in Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Virginia.
Clinton wins over the big states
Clinton’s substantial lead over Sanders after Super Tuesday is largely due to the states in which she won the primaries, the most significant being Virginia, Georgia, Massachusetts and Texas, all of which have over 100 delegates.
Unfortunately for Sanders, the contests in Colorado and Minnesota were caucuses with relatively few participants. Sanders’s collective votes in all four states he won totaled roughly 430,000, while Clinton won 530,000 in Georgia alone.
Sanders suffered perhaps most notably in his loss in Massachusetts. Even though the state borders his home state of Vermont and he won the counties nearest Vermont and most of the counties outside the Boston metropolitan area, Clinton still overtook him, although by fewer than 2 percentage points.
GOP in state of panic
Trump’s sweeping victories on Tuesday suggest probable victories in the winner-take-all states further down the road. The candidate has been called out numerous times by GOP politicians and officials after his big wins in February in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
But within the Republican primary electorate, there seems little sign of uncertainty, as Trump won seven of the states holding primaries, including two staple New England states of Vermont and Massachusetts.
Trump noted that Republican turnout was up across the board and that Democratic turnout fell short of 2008’s showing, saying, “I think we’re going to be more inclusive…more unified, and I think we’re going to be a much bigger party. [The GOP] has become more dynamic. It’s become more diverse.”
The perceived state of panic in the GOP, though, would suggest otherwise. There has been talk in the media of Republican candidates disassociating themselves from the nominee in the fall, and with more Trump victories, the GOP seems more likely to pull away from the front-runner.
