In the contest for the White House, more than a third of all GOP delegates will be up for grabs on March 5.
By Susan Milligan, Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder
What Is Super Tuesday and Why Is It Important?
Super Tuesday is the day when the greatest number of states hold their primaries or caucuses.
Super Tuesday is considered the big prize in the presidential nominating process, a big election day that makes expensive and time-consuming demands of candidates, who must appeal to voters from the northeast tip of Maine to the southwest corner of California. Its contests encompass wide swaths of the American electorate, both geographically and demographically, and require candidates to make pitches to such diverse interests as Minnesota farmers, California tech workers and federal employees in Virginia.
Super Tuesday has roots going back to 1984, but became a single-day force in 1988, when Southern states banded together to counter what some had critically dubbed the “Iowa syndrome,” whereby a Midwestern state had what they saw as outsize power as the first nominating contest. If the South couldn’t be first, it could be the biggest, the theory was, and candidates would need to spend time there addressing concerns of Southern voters.
The delegate haul also holds the promise of elevating a particular candidate, or forcing one or more out of the race.
While the 2024 election appears likely to be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Trump’s lone major competitor, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, is still in the race despite losing almost all nomination contests so far to the GOP front-runner. Both Biden and the former president are hoping they can notch a number of landslide victories on Tuesday in order to focus on the general election. And in the lead-up to the big day of contests, the Supreme Court ruled on March 4 that Trump could remain on the ballot in one of the states at stake, Colorado.
Trump has so far secured wins in New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, South Carolina, Michigan, Missouri and Idaho. Haley, who most recently served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, has only won the Washington, D.C. primary.
How Many Delegates Are at Stake on Super Tuesday?
More than a third of all GOP delegates will be up for grabs on this year’s Super Tuesday. In total, there are 854 delegates at stake for Republicans and 1,420 for Democrats, according to The Associated Press.
When Is Super Tuesday?
Tuesday, March 5.
READ: Trump Delivers Crushing Blow to Haley at Home
What States and Territories Vote on Super Tuesday?
Alabama
Alaska
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Iowa
Maine
Massachusetts
Minnesota
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
American Samoa
Which of the Super Tuesday States Has the Highest Voting Rate?
Of the 16 states and territories that will vote on Super Tuesday, Minnesota had the highest voting rate during the 2020 general election, with more than three-quarters of Minnesotans showing up to the polls.
What Does Recent Polling Show Before Super Tuesday?
In a New York Times/Siena College poll released on March 2, Trump led Haley 77%-20% among registered GOP primary voters when asked which candidate they’d be most likely to vote for if the election for the Republican nominee for president were held today. The former president also has a strong lead over Haley – 76.9%-14.5% – in FiveThirtyEight’s Republican primary polling average as of March 4.
Biden, meanwhile, was down 43%-48% against Trump with regard to the likely November matchup, according to the Times/Siena poll.
How Did Super Tuesday States Vote in Past Contests?
Biden won most of the Super Tuesday states in 2020, with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont taking four states, including California. Trump, as the incumbent at the time, swept the Republican Super Tuesday elections.
In 2016, Trump won a majority of the Super Tuesday contests, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won three and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio took one. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won seven of the 11 Democratic contests against Sanders that year.
How Did Super Tuesday States Perform in the 2023 Best States Rankings?
One of the Super Tuesday states – Utah – was actually ranked No. 1 in the U.S. News Best States project, which assesses how well states are performing for their residents. Other high-ranked states among the group include Minnesota (No. 5), Vermont (No. 9), Massachusetts (No. 11), Virginia (No. 13) and Colorado (No. 15).
On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest-ranked states among those with nominating contests on Super Tuesday include Alaska (No. 49), Arkansas (No. 45), Alabama (No. 44) and Oklahoma (No. 43).