Super Tuesday is known to make or break candidates. In 2016 and 2020, it was Super Tuesday that knocked Bernie Sanders out of competition for the Democratic nomination, though he chose to stay in the race until the convention in 2016. It was the day that crushed Ted Cruz in 2016, ending his fight against Donald Trump. This year proved the end of Nikki Haley’s valiant fight to turn the Republican party away from Trump and all his criminality, corruption and chaos.
Voters in 15 states — Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia — cast ballots in the Republican presidential primary on Tuesday. All those states except Alaska held their Democratic primary contests on Tuesday as well.
The U.S. territory of American Samoa held its Democratic caucus and Tuesday also marked the last day for Iowa Democrats to mail in their primary ballots. (Republicans held their Iowa caucuses in January.)
President Joe Biden cruised to victory in the Democratic race with nary a hiccup. In several states, Democrats voted uncommitted, but as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the country’s only gay male governor, told MSNBC in a live interview Tuesday night of the 8% of Colorado Democrats who voted that way, it’s unlikely those voters will make the same choice in November, given the stakes.
Biden does not have any real competition for the Democratic nomination, as both of his primary challengers — Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips and self-help author Marianne Williamson — have failed to win any delegates. Of the 1,968 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination, Biden has secured 1,564. His only real challenger thus far is that uncommitted vote, which has garnered 10 delegates.
On Tuesday, there were more uncommitted voters registering their outrage over the Israel-Hamas war and what many on the left view as genocide in Gaza, registering “uncommitted” votes to show Biden they do not approve of his handling of the war and his failure to demand a ceasefire. In Michigan last week, the “uncommitted” vote was significant: 13% and 101,000 votes.
On Tuesday, in the seven states that offer an uncommitted or no preference protest option, the numbers varied but the protest continued. In Minnesota, which has a large Muslim and Arab demographic, there was a 19% uncommitted vote — 46,000 votes. In Colorado, it was 8% and 43,000. In Tennessee, it was 10,000 votes and 8% and in Alabama it was 6% and 11,000 votes. In North Carolina, it was 88,000 votes and 13% of the vote. In Iowa, it was only 480 and 4% of the vote. Finally, in Massachusetts, the uncommitted were 8% and 57,000 votes — another 250,000 uncommitted votes.
There were also between 2% and 4% for Williamson and Phillips in most states, somewhat higher in others. Oklahoma was an outlier with 9% for Williamson and 8% for Phillips as was Maine with 7% for Phillips and Virginia for Williamson with 7.8% — but it’s also possible those were protest votes in states without the uncommitted option.
In the Republican primary, 874 of 2,429 total delegates were in contention on Super Tuesday. The number of delegates needed to capture the GOP nomination is 1,215. And while Haley made history by being the first woman to ever win a GOP primary, securing both D.C. and Vermont, her 89 delegates were no match for Trump.
After the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24, Haley had said, “In the next 10 days, another 21 states and territories will speak. They have the right to a real choice, not a Soviet-style election with only one candidate. And I have a duty to give them that choice.”
She did. And while she won between 20% and 40% in most of those states, with the winner-take-all metrics of the GOP process in most of those states, Haley was never able to compete for delegates with Trump who was, in most respects, viewed as an incumbent to voters.
Haley gave a brief speech thanking her voters and noted that her immigrant mother was able to vote for her in South Carolina. “Only in America,” Haley said.
Haley also sounded the same cautionary tone she has struck for weeks now, saying “We must bind together as Americans. We must turn away from the darkness of hatred and division. I will continue to promote all those values as is the right of every American. I sought the honor of being your president, but in our great country, being a private citizen is privilege enough in itself and that’s a privilege I very much look forward to.”
Haley called on Trump to earn her vote and those of her voters. Haley declined to endorse Trump, as other GOP primary rivals have already done, instead urging him to give her more moderate-minded supporters a reason to back him in November.
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond who did not support him,” Haley said. “And I hope he does that. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing.”
But as she was giving her speech, Trump was excoriating her on his Truth Social network, calling her “bird brain” and saying how terrible she would be for America.
Super Tuesday also marked some critical down ballot races. In California’s Senate race to fill the seat held for decades by Dianne Feinstein, Democrat Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey won and will face off in November. Two other House Democrats, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee had also run for the seat, but were nowhere near Schiff’s numbers. Both will now leave the House at year’s end. All three Democrats are strong LGBTQ+ allies. Trans activist Charlotte Clymer had posted her support for Schiff on Twitter/X and urged voters to support him in the Super Tuesday race.
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was elected the GOP gubernatorial candidate on Super Tuesday and has been endorsed by Trump. He is a Holocaust denier; has called LGBTQ+ people “filth” and “maggots”; and said trans people should “find a corner outside somewhere” to go to the bathroom.
The Human Rights Campaign issued a press release about Robinson on Super Tuesday detailing the many egregiously antigay and anti-trans statements he has made.
HRC said, “Mark Robinson has nothing to offer the people of North Carolina except hate, embarrassment, and a commitment to making the state as unwelcoming as possible. He cannot be allowed to get anywhere near the governor’s office. His vitriol for LGBTQ+ North Carolinians isn’t just disqualifying — it’s dangerous and would leave thousands of North Carolinians at risk for bullying, harassment, and violence.”
LGBTQ+ candidates were also on the ballot in Super Tuesday states. LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which endorses out LGBTQ+ candidates who support LGBTQ+ equality and reproductive rights, had listed LGBTQ+ primary candidates to watch in a range of races, noting, “Tuesday, 53 LGBTQ+ Victory Fund candidates are on the primary ballot in Arkansas, California, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont.”
Molly Cook advanced in Tuesday’s runoff to replace Houston Mayor John Whitmire in the Texas Senate. If successful in the runoff and on the November ballot, Cook will be the first out LGBTQ+ member of the state’s upper chamber, which is the chamber most active in crafting anti-equality policy.
Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, president & CEO of LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, released the following statement:
“I’m proud of Molly’s standing in the primary, where her hard work and dedication to serving her community has paid off. No out LGBTQ+ person has ever served in the Texas Senate, and that’s been detrimental to our community’s ability to defend our rights. We must do everything we can to ensure Molly is successful in the runoff and goes on to fight for us as Texas’s first out senator.”
Only 100 votes currently separates the two lead contenders for the Sacramento mayor’s race and Steve Hansen could become the first out gay mayor of the California capital as the votes continue to be counted.
To view other candidates in upcoming primary races, check out the Victory Fund website at victoryfund.org/our-candidates.