By Elijah Lutz, Staff Writer
On Tuesday, 12 states and one territory went to the polls to choose who they want to be their party’s nominee, and much to the chagrin of the “political establishment,” many results were contrary to the desires of the party leadership.
For the Republicans, frontrunner businessman Donald Trump had the most success. The Associated Press reported Trump won in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. This was not without a fight, however, as Trump was challenged in Vermont by Ohio Governor John Kasich and in Virginia by Marco Rubio. Trump lost Oklahoma, Alaska and Texas to Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Florida Senator Marco Rubio won in Minnesota. As of Wednesday, the AP reported that Trump leads the GOP in delegate votes with 319. Cruz has 226, Rubio has 110, Kasich has 25 and Carson has 8.
Trump’s major victory comes in the wake of many GOP leaders and strategists working to prevent him from becoming the Republican nominee. According to an article from the New York Times, strategist and advisor to President George W. Bush, Karl Rove, warned Republican governors in February that the nomination of Trump would be “catastrophic” and could potentially doom the party in November.
As for the Democrats, frontrunner and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went home with her biggest victories yet. According to the Associated Press, Clinton had won in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia as well as the territory of American Samoa. Her only remaining opponent, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, was victorious in the states of Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Vermont. By 1 a.m. Eastern Time, Politico had reported that Clinton had earned 436 delegates from Tuesday’s primaries, while Sanders picked up 260 delegates. According to the New York Times, much of Clinton’s victory is due to her popularity among minority voters. In predominantly black and Hispanic areas, Clinton overwhelmingly outperformed Sanders, picking up many delegates considered necessary to the Democratic nomination.
With Super Tuesday now over, many pundits are beginning to predict that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are ultimately going to be named their party’s nominees. This Saturday, March 5, the state of Kansas will be holding caucuses for both parties and the state of Louisiana will be holding the primaries for both parties as well. GOP caucuses will take place in Kentucky and Maine, along with the Democratic caucus in Nebraska.