The biggest voting day of the 2016 presidential primary is here as 11 states and one US territory will take to the polls to take the first steps towards picking our nation’s leader as we enter into a post-Obama era.
If the voting so far has taught us anything, it’s been the fact that one state can heavily affect the playing field. So, needless to say, today is important.
On the Democrats side of things 1,015 delegates are up for grabs as the states of Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia cast their ballots.
Today is Bernie Sanders‘s opportunity to re-emerge as a top contender following consecutive losses in both Nevada and South Carolina last month. Most notably, South Carolina shined a light upon one of the greatest weaknesses in his campaign—failure to capture the Black vote, a significant constituency in any race.
While polls show Hillary Clinton ahead of Sanders in southern states with a similar racial makeup such as Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, she’ll still need to tap into Bernie Sanders’ strong support among white voters, specifically white men, and white younger voters.
Tuesday’s voting will show Democrats as having allocated 865 delegates, almost 40 percent of the 2,383 delegates needed to secure the nomination.
On the other hand, the GOP party is looking at 595 delegates as voting takes place in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia.
Polls show Donald Trump ahead in Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. However, all eyes will be on Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz who have repeatedly finished in second and third.
Marco Rubio will be looking to beat Donald Trump in order to show that he can still emerge as a top establishment candidate to take on Donald Trump.
Ted Cruz will need to make a point of the loyalty of his following, attempting to secure the win in his home state of Texas, as well as among evangelicals who dominate Southern States.
Rubio and Cruz’s campaigns’ best bets will be to limit the victory of Donald Trump. It’s all about the margin and how small they need to keep them.
With polls closing at 7:00 pm EST, officials results of the Super Tuesday contests should be announced by 10:00 pm EST. After this, candidates will move on the March 15 winner-take -all primaries in the states of Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio.
