Super Tuesday one of the most consequential days in the Democratic primary: the single day when the most states held primaries or caucuses, the most voters went to the polls, and the most delegates were allotted to candidates. More than a third of all delegates for the Democratic National Convention were up for grabs on this one day.
Here’s where you can find all the results from Super Tuesday and here are the Fix’s takeaways.
It came at a particularly dramatic point in the race, as former vice president Joe Biden surged to become the moderate candidate who can challenge Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
When is Super Tuesday?
It was Tuesday, March 3. It was the first big primary day of 2020 after the four early-nominating states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — held their votes
Poll closing times varied state: Vermont and Virginia’s polls close first at 7 p.m. Eastern, and California’s last at 11 p.m. Eastern. .
Super Tuesday is a popular day to hold a primary because so many states want an early say in who gets the nomination. So they’ve clustered as early as they can without stealing any thunder from the first four states, which have deals with the Democratic National Committee to go in the order they do.
(Republicans also can vote in their presidential primaries in most Super Tuesday states, but because President Trump doesn’t face a serious challenger we’re focusing here on the Democrats.)
Super Tuesday is big, but it’s relatively early in the primary process; there will be Democratic primaries and caucuses happening all the way until June.
Which states voted on Super Tuesday and how many delegates are at stake?
Super Tuesday
Before Super Tuesday
155 delegates
1,357 delegates
After Super Tuesday
2,467 delegates
N.H.
Vt.
Maine
Minn.
Iowa
Mass.
Nev.
Utah
Colo.
Calif.
Va.
N.C.
Tenn.
Okla.
Ark.
S.C.
Ala.
Texas
Amer. Samoa
Puerto Rico
Dem. Abroad
Guam
N. Marianas
Virgin Islands
Source: The Green Papers
THE WASHINGTON POST
Super Tuesday
Before Super Tuesday
155 delegates
1,357 delegates
After Super Tuesday
2,467 delegates
N.H.
Vt.
Maine
Minn.
Mass.
Iowa
Nev.
Utah
Colo.
Va.
Calif.
N.C.
Tenn.
Okla.
Ark.
Amer. Samoa
S.C.
Dem. Abroad
Ala.
N. Marianas
Texas
Puerto Rico
Guam
Virgin Islands
Source: The Green Papers
THE WASHINGTON POST
After Super Tuesday
Before Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday
1,357 delegates
155 delegates
2,467 delegates
N.H.
Wash.
Vt.
Maine
N.D.
Mont.
Minn.
Ore.
Wis.
N.Y.
Idaho
S.D.
Wyo.
Mich.
Mass.
Pa.
IA
Neb.
R.I.
Nev.
Ohio
Ind.
Ill.
Utah
Conn.
W.Va.
Colo.
Va.
Kan.
Calif.
N.J.
Mo.
Ky.
Del.
N.C.
Tenn.
Md.
Okla.
Ark.
Ariz.
N.M.
S.C.
D.C.
Ala.
Ga.
Miss.
La.
Texas
Fla.
Alaska
Amer. Samoa
Puerto Rico
Hawaii
Dem. Abroad
Guam
N. Marianas
Virgin Islands
Source: The Green Papers
THE WASHINGTON POST
After Super Tuesday
Before Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday
1,357 delegates
155 delegates
2,467 delegates
N.H.
Wash.
Vt.
Maine
N.D.
Mont.
Minn.
Ore.
Wis.
N.Y.
Idaho
S.D.
Wyo.
Mich.
Mass.
Pa.
IA
Neb.
R.I.
Nev.
Ohio
Ind.
Ill.
Utah
Conn.
Calif.
W.Va.
Colo.
Va.
Kan.
N.J.
Mo.
Ky.
Del.
N.C.
Tenn.
Md.
Okla.
Ark.
Ariz.
N.M.
S.C.
D.C.
Ala.
Ga.
Miss.
La.
Texas
Fla.
Alaska
Hawaii
Amer. Samoa
Puerto Rico
Dem. Abroad
Guam
N. Marianas
Virgin Islands
Source: The Green Papers
THE WASHINGTON POST
Before Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday
After Super Tuesday
1,357 delegates
2,467 delegates
155 delegates
N.H.
FEB. 11
Wash.
Maine
MARCH 10
Vt.
MARCH 3
Mont.
N.D.
MARCH 3
Minn.
JUNE 2
MARCH 10
Ore.
MARCH 3
Mass.
MARCH 3
Wis.
MAY 19
Idaho
N.Y.
S.D.
APRIL 7
MARCH 10
Mich.
APRIL 28
JUNE 2
Wyo.
R.I.
APRIL 28
MARCH 10
APRIL 4
Iowa
Pa.
Neb.
Nev.
Conn.
APRIL 28
APRIL 28
Ohio
FEB. 3
Ill.
MAY 12
Ind.
Utah
FEB. 22
N.J.
MARCH 17
JUNE 2
MARCH 17
Colo.
W.V.
Calif.
MARCH 3
MAY 5
Va.
Kan.
Del.
Mo.
APRIL 28
MARCH 3
MAY 12
Ky.
MARCH 3
MARCH 3
MAY 2
MARCH 10
Md.
MAY 19
APRIL 28
N.C.
Tenn.
D.C.
MARCH 3
JUNE 2
Okla.
Ariz.
MARCH 3
N.M.
Ark.
S.C.
MARCH 3
MARCH 17
FEB. 29
JUNE 2
MARCH 3
Ala.
Ga.
Miss.
Amer. Samoa
MARCH 3
MARCH
10
MARCH 3
MARCH 24
Dem. Abroad
MARCH 3-10
La.
Texas
N. Marianas
MARCH 14
APRIL 4
Alaska
MARCH 3
Fla.
Puerto Rico
MARCH 29
APRIL 4
Hawaii
MARCH 17
Guam
APRIL 4
MAY 2
Virgin Islands
JUNE 6
Source: The Green Papers
THE WASHINGTON POST
Fourteen states and one U.S. territory held nominating contests on Super Tuesday, to award a total of 1,357 delegates. To put that in perspective, you need 1,991 delegates to win the nomination.
The states are across the country — literally from California to Maine — and include heavily Democratic Massachusetts, traditionally Republican Texas and Oklahoma, and more in-between states like Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia. Democrats who live in American Samoa will also caucus on Super Tuesday, and Democrats who live abroad will begin casting ballots.
[Turnout in South Carolina makes Biden’s win even more impressive]
It’s the delegate total, not the sheer number of votes, that counts when figuring out who wins a party’s presidential nomination. Each state is allotted a certain number of delegates based on a formula of population and weight in the Democratic Party. (So Democratic-leaning states have more delegates to offer than Republican-leaning ones of a similar size.) The state parties then award delegates to the candidates based on the votes they receive. The first candidate to get a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates wins the nomination.
No one can win the nomination on Super Tuesday alone, but doing well can get you a long way. Thirty-four percent of delegates are offered on Tuesday. That’s more than any other single day in the nominating contest.
This year, Super Tuesday is even more consequential because California moved its primary up to join. It had been voting in June, at the tail end of the nominating process when there’s typically less at stake. The addition of the most populous state adds even more heft to Super Tuesday; 30 percent of the delegates awarded will come from California.
3,979 total delegates
4,000 delegates
3,000
2,000
Super Tuesday
1,357 delegates
1,000
Iowa Caucuses
41 delegates
0
THE WASHINGTON POST
3,979 total delegates
4,000 delegates
3,000
2,000
Super Tuesday
1,357 delegates
1,000
Iowa Caucuses
41 delegates
0
THE WASHINGTON POST
3,979 total delegates
4,000 delegates
3,000
2,000
Super Tuesday
1,357 delegates
1,000
Iowa Caucuses
41 delegates
0
THE WASHINGTON POST
3,979 total delegates
4,000 delegates
3,000
2,000
Super Tuesday
1,357 delegates
1,000
Iowa Caucuses
41 delegates
0
THE WASHINGTON POST
3,979 total delegates
4,000 delegates
3,000
2,000
Super Tuesday
1,357 delegates
1,000
Iowa Caucuses
41 delegates
0
THE WASHINGTON POST
Before Super Tuesday, less than 5 percent of delegates will have been allotted. After, when California’s are finally all counted: 38 percent.
Why is Super Tuesday important, especially this year?
The race for the Democratic nomination still lacks clarity, but it narrowed in some key ways in the days preceding Super Tuesday.
Sanders had seized the lead in the liberal lane, the lead in delegates and leads in recent national polling.
The competition in the other lane, for a more moderate alternative to Sanders, had been muddled. Biden won in South Carolina on Saturday, putting him back in contention. And shortly afterward, three candidates dropped out of the race — former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and investor Tom Steyer — with an apparent eye on making sure Democrats unify around a challenger who isn’t Sanders.
When the not-Sanders competition was still so murky in late 2019, former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg jumped in the race. Super Tuesday was the first time he appeared on presidential ballots. His late entry strategy was to skip the early states, and he has spent hundreds of millions of his own money on campaign ads. His standing in the polls, including among black voters, rose, making his candidacy one more wild card in this race. The Washington Post went to majority-black Memphis on Sunday and found voters there torn about whether to vote for Biden or Bloomberg.
Super Tuesday states have 10 times the population of
earlier-voting states
Nearly 130 million people live in the 14 states with primaries on Super Tuesday — more than 10 times as many people who live in the four states with earlier caucuses and primaries.
represents 10,000 people.
Each square
White non-Hispanic
Hispanic
Black
Asian
Other
Primaries or caucuses before Super Tuesday
S.C.
Feb. 29
Nev.
Feb. 22
N.H.
Feb. 11
Iowa
Feb. 3
Primaries on Super Tuesday
Minn.
N.C.
Okla.
Vt.
Calif.
15.5 million Hispanic people live in California. The purple area on this map represents their proportion
of the population, not
where they live.
Ala.
Maine
Mass.
Tex.
Utah
Ark.
Colo.
Va.
Tenn.
Super Tuesday states are more diverse than states that follow
Super Tuesday states
Black
White
Hispanic
Other
53%
25%
11%
Asian
Post-Super Tuesday states and Puerto Rico
13%
64%
15%
United States overall
60%
18%
12%
“Other” includes Native Americans, people of multiple races and other races. Puerto Rico is the only U.S. territory included.
Source: American Community Survey
ALYSSA FOWERS/THE WASHINGTON POST
Super Tuesday states have 10 times the
population of earlier-voting states
Nearly 130 million people live in the 14 states with primaries on Super Tuesday — more than 10 times as many people who live in the four states with earlier caucuses and primaries.
represents 10,000 people.
Each square
White non-Hispanic
Hispanic
Black
Asian
Other
Primaries or caucuses before Super Tuesday
Iowa
Feb. 3
N.H.
Feb. 11
S.C.
Feb. 29
Nev.
Feb. 22
Primaries on Super Tuesday
11.4 million Hispanic people live in Virginia. The purple area on this map represents
their proportion of the population, not
where they live.
Va.
Calif.
N.C.
Okla.
Ark.
Ala.
Mass.
Vt.
Colo.
Minn.
Tex.
Maine
Utah
Tenn.
Super Tuesday states are more diverse than states with later nominating contests
Super Tuesday states
Black
Asian
White
Hispanic
25%
53%
11%
7%
Other
Post-Super Tuesday states and Puerto Rico
64%
15%
13%
United States overall
60%
18%
12%
6%
“Other” includes Native Americans, people of multiple races and other races. U.S. territories other than Puerto Rico are not included.
Source: American Community Survey
ALYSSA FOWERS/THE WASHINGTON POST
Super Tuesday states have 10 times the population of
earlier-voting states
Nearly 130 million people live in the 14 states with nominating contests on Super Tuesday — more than 10 times as many people who live in the four states with caucuses and primaries before Super Tuesday.
Each square
represents 10,000 people.
White non-Hispanic
Black
Asian
Hispanic
Other
Primaries or caucuses before Super Tuesday
Iowa
Feb. 3
N.H.
Feb. 11
Nev.
Feb. 22
S.C.
Feb. 29
Primaries on Super Tuesday
Okla.
11.4 million Hispanic people live in Texas. The purple area on this map represents
their proportion of the population, not where they live.
Calif.
Tex.
Ala.
Vt.
Utah
Maine
Mass.
N.C.
Minn.
Colo.
Ark.
Va.
Tenn.
Super Tuesday states are more diverse than states that follow
Super Tuesday states
Black
Asian
Other
4%
White 53%
Hispanic 25%
11%
7%
Post-Super Tuesday states and Puerto Rico
64%
15%
13%
5%
4%
United States overall
60%
18%
6%
4%
12%
“Other” includes Native Americans, people of multiple races and other races. U.S. territories other than Puerto Rico are not included.
ALYSSA FOWERS/THE WASHINGTON POST
Source: American Community Survey
Super Tuesday states have 10 times the population of earlier-voting states
Nearly 130 million people live in the 14 states with nominating contests on Super Tuesday — more than 10 times as many people who live in the four states with caucuses and primaries before Super Tuesday.
Each square
represents 10,000 people.
Black
Asian
Hispanic
Other
White non-Hispanic
Primaries or caucuses before Super Tuesday
Iowa
Feb. 3
N.H.
Feb. 11
Nev.
Feb. 22
S.C.
Feb. 29
Primaries on Super Tuesday
1.2 million Hispanic people live in Colorado. The purple area on this map represents their proportion of the population, not where they live.
Maine
Mass.
Va.
Okla.
Colo.
Utah
N.C.
Tenn.
Calif.
Ark.
Minn.
Tex.
Ala.
Vt.
Super Tuesday states are more diverse than states that follow
Super Tuesday states
Asian
Other
Black
White 53%
Hispanic 25%
11%
7%
4%
Post-Super Tuesday states and Puerto Rico
64%
15%
13%
5%
4%
United States overall
60%
18%
12%
6%
4%
“Other” includes Native Americans, people of multiple races and other races. U.S. territories other than Puerto Rico are not included.
ALYSSA FOWERS/THE WASHINGTON POST
Source: American Community Survey
Super Tuesday states have 10 times the population of earlier-voting states
Nearly 130 million people live in the 14 states with primaries on Super Tuesday — more than 10 times as many people who live in the four states with caucuses and primaries before Super Tuesday.
Primaries or caucuses before Super Tuesday
Iowa
Feb. 3
N.H.
Feb. 11
Nev.
Feb. 22
S.C.
Feb. 29
represents 10,000 people.
Each square
White non-Hispanic
Black
Asian
Hispanic
Other
Primaries on Super Tuesday
Mass.
Minn.
Colo.
Tex.
Calif.
Ark.
Okla.
Ala.
Maine
Va.
Utah
Vt.
15.5 million
Hispanic people
live in California.
The purple area on this map represents their proportion of the population, not where they live.
N.C.
Tenn.
Super Tuesday states are more diverse than states that follow
White
Hispanic
Black
Asian
Other
Super Tuesday states
53%
25%
11%
7%
4%
Post-Super Tuesday states
and Puerto Rico
64%
15%
13%
5%
4%
United States overall
60%
18%
12%
6%
4%
“Other” includes Native Americans, people of multiple races and other races. U.S. territories other than Puerto Rico are not included.
ALYSSA FOWERS/THE WASHINGTON POST
Source: American Community Survey
A brief history of Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday as we know it was born out of a desire by Democrats in the 1980s to nominate a more moderate candidate, said Richard Berg-Andersson, an elections expert with the Green Papers blog. In 1984, Democrats nominated Walter Mondale, who got crushed in the general election by Ronald Reagan. So for the next election, the Democratic Party in Southern states moved their primaries en masse to March to try to have the more conservative wing of their party chime in sooner in the hopes of boosting a more moderate candidate. (It didn’t really work: Democrats nominated then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis who was perceived to be more liberal than Southern Democrats wanted.)
Today, Super Tuesday is more geographically diverse and less about specific regions trying to influence the election. Rather, each state wants a say earlier and earlier and earlier in the nominating contest, for fear of being left out of the decision-making. It takes some of the fun out of picking if you already know whom your nominee will be. Super Tuesday has swollen so much that during the 2008 election for both Democrats and Republicans, about half the states had their contests on one day.
Super Tuesdays can be decisive and signal the end of a primary, like it was for both parties in 2000, said Josh Putnam, a political science professor who runs the elections blog Frontloading HQ. “But they can also show whether things are evenly divided or evenly enough to keep primary season going for a longer time,” he said in an email.