The biggest day of 2024 primary calendar is here as 16 states and one U.S. territory vote in contests known as Super Tuesday.
The elections taking place on March 5 are a crucial moment for President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who are the overwhelming front-runners for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations, respectively. It's also important for Trump rival Nikki Haley, who faces a tough slate of contests, mostly in the types of reliably Republican-voting states where she has struggled to win support or in states where party rules heavily favor the frontrunner.
Super Tuesday also has the largest delegate haul of any day in the primary calendar, so strong performances for Biden or Trump would move them much closer to becoming their party's nominee.
The contests will unfold from coast-to-coast, and while most of the attention will be on the presidential races, there are other important elections on Tuesday.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Here's what to know about Super Tuesday and some things to watch:
Which states are voting on Super Tuesday?
- Alabama
- Alaska (Republicans only)
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Iowa (Democrats only)
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
The U.S. territory of American Samoa is also holding a caucus.
Politics
Who's on the ballot for the presidential primaries?
Many presidential candidates who have already dropped out of the race will still appear on the ballot.
ALABAMA
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Uncommitted.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, David Stuckenberg, Uncommitted, Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy.
ALASKA
Republican Caucus: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy.
ARKANSAS
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, David Stuckenberg, Ryan Binkley, Doug Burgum, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy.
CALIFORNIA
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, David Stuckenberg, Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Rachel Swift.
COLORADO
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy.
IOWA
Democratic Caucus: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson, uncommitted.
MAINE
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley Ryan Binkley, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy.
MASSACHUSETTS
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson, no preference.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, no preference.
MINNESOTA
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson, uncommitted.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy.
NORTH CAROLINA
Democrats: Joe Biden, no preference.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, no preference.
OKLAHOMA
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, David Stuckenberg, Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy.
TENNESSEE
Democrats: Joe Biden, uncommitted.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, David Stuckenberg, Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, uncommitted.
TEXAS
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, David Stuckenberg, Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, uncommitted.
UTAH
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Ryan Binkley.
VERMONT
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy.
VIRGINIA
Democrats: Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson.
Republicans: Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy.
How many delegates are at stake?
More than one-third of the total delegates available in both the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries will be awarded on Super Tuesday.
On the Republican side, 854 of 2,429 will be at stake. Democrats will award 1,420 delegates.
Trump has so far earned 247 delegates and needs 968 more to hit his so-called “magic number” of 1,215.
For Biden, he currently has 206 delegates and need 1,762 to hit his magic number of 1,968.
Here's a state-by-state breakdown of delegates up for grabs:
- Alabama (D): 52 delegates (R): 50 delegates
- Alaska (Republicans only): 29 delegates
- Arkansas (D): 31 delegates (R): 40 delegates
- California (D): 424 delegates (R): 169 delegates
- Colorado (D): 72 delegates (R): 37 delegates
- Iowa (Democrats only) 40 delegates
- Maine (D): 24 delegates (R): 20 delegates
- Massachusetts (D): 92 delegates (R): 40 delegates
- Minnesota (D): 75 delegates (R): 39 delegates
- North Carolina (D): 116 delegates (R): 74 delegates
- Oklahoma (D): 36 delegates (R): 43 delegates
- Tennessee (D): 63 delegates (R): 58 delegates
- Texas (D): 244 delegates (R): 150 delegates
- Utah (D) 30 delegates (R): 40 delegates
- Vermont (D): 16 delegates (R): 17 delegates
- Virginia (D): 99 delegates (R): 48 delegates
What time do polls close on March 5?
6:00 p.m. EST: Results expected in Iowa (Democrats only)
7:00 p.m. EST: Polls close in Vermont and Virginia. Caucuses convene in Alaska (Republicans only)
7:30 p.m. EST: Polls close in North Carolina
8:00 p.m. EST: Polls close in Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Most polls close in Texas.
8:30 p.m. EST: Polls close in Arkansas
9:00 p.m. EST: Polls close in Colorado and Minnesota. Last polls close in Texas. Caucuses convene in Utah (Republicans only)
10:00 p.m. EST: Polls close in Utah (Democrats only)
11:00 p.m. EST: Polls close in California. Voting expected to end in Utah (Republicans only)
12:00 a.m. EST: Voting ends in Alaska (Republicans only)
What are the key state races on the ballot on Super Tuesday?
There's far more than the presidential primaries on the ballot Tuesday. One of the most consequential contests is the California primary for the U.S. Senate seat left open by the death of Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
The seat's temporary occupant, Laphonza Butler, isn't running for a full term. Rather than having the winners of party primaries face off in November, California throws every candidate into a single primary and has the top two vote-getters make it to the general election. Democratic U.S. House members, Reps. Katie Porter, Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee, as well as former Dodgers great Steve Garvey, all have their hat in the ring.
Most of the country picked its governors in the 2022 off-year elections, but North Carolina is gearing up for an intense race this fall. The major-party front-runners for the seat being vacated by term-limited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper both will need to demonstrate an ability to unite their parties in the primary.
Attorney General Josh Stein has Cooper’s endorsement. Stein's main competitor is a former state Supreme Court associate justice, Mike Morgan, who is Black. Watch whether Stein’s able to hold onto a significant share of the primary’s Black voters, which is essential for any Democrat who wants to be competitive in November.
The Republican front-runner is Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is Black, has been a divisive figure for some for criticizing vocally the teaching of LGBTQ+ issues during sex education and for comments at a church that Christians are “called to be led by men.” His opponents, state Treasurer Dale Folwell and trial attorney Bill Graham, say Robinson is too polarizing to win in November.
Robinson received Trump’s support last year, but it’s worth watching whether he shows the same weaknesses as the former president among college-educated, suburban voters. Biden’s reelection campaign is targeting North Carolina because it thinks those voters can help him beat Trump there.
In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, is targeting more than 30 GOP state lawmakers in the primary, including House Speaker Dale Phelan, after his own party tried to impeach him last year. The impeachment stemmed from Paxton's legal woes. He faces an April trial on felony security fraud charges, and an additional federal corruption probe over the allegations that he used his office to favor a campaign donor that was the foundation of the impeachment charges.
Paxton is also trying to remove three Republican judges on the state's conservative appeals court who voted to limit the attorney general's powers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
