Super Tuesday is shaping up to be yet another suspense-free day of presidential politics as both Donald Trump and President Biden prepare to run up the delegate scoreboard against their competitors.
Fifteen Republican primaries and caucuses will take place on Tuesday, with Democrats in 16 states and territories doing the same.
A total of 865 delegates are at stake on the GOP side, about a third of the total that will be doled out before this summer’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
There are also key races to watch downballot, with hotly contested Democratic Senate primaries in California and Texas to be decided
Here’s what you need to know about Super Tuesday:
For decades, presidential nominating contests have featured one day in which the greatest number of states vote. The term “Super Tuesday” has been used since at least the mid-1970s, according to the National Constitution Center.
Specifics of how the day goes down vary from year to year. In 2016, 11 states held Republican primaries or caucuses on March 1 — the official Super Tuesday — but six more states, including delegate-rich Florida and Ohio, held their contests two weeks later on March 15, promoting the media to christen it “Super Tuesday II.”
On that occasion, the contests winnowed the Republican field to a three-person race between Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
This time around, the only suspense is whether Trump will sweep all 15 contests from his last remaining rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
For this election cycle, Super Tuesday is on March 5. After Tuesday’s contests, no date on the calendar will feature more than five Republican primaries or caucuses.
This election cycle, Super Tuesday races will award 874 or roughly 36% of the total 2,429 Republican delegates. As of Monday, Trump had 244 delegates compared to fellow Republican contender Nikki Haley’s 43 delegates.
To win the nomination, Trump will need to cross 1,215 delegates.
On the Democrat side, 1,420 — or 36% of the 3,934 available delegates — will be up for grabs. Biden has 206 delegates as of Monday afternoon and needs 1,968 to lock down the nomination.
As the incumbent, Biden’s fiercest competition is “uncommitted,” which received two delegates following last week’s Michigan primary.
Both Republicans and Democrats will cast votes in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.
Separately Republicans will also vote in the Alaska primary, while Democrats will vote in the American Samoa caucus.
Tuesday is also the last day for Democratic voters in Iowa to submit their nomination ballots by mail.
Yes. Even though Maine and Colorado moved to jettison him from their respective primary ballots, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that states cannot declare candidates ineligible for federal office.
The former US ambassador to the United Nations has played coy about her plans after Tuesday.
“I’ve always said this needs to be competitive. As long as we are competitive, as long as we are showing that there is a place for us, I’m going to continue to fight,” she told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview that aired Sunday.
Critics, including top Trump confidants, have argued she hasn’t been competitive. At this point, Trump has won every race he’s vied in except Washington, DC, where Haley won handily Sunday evening.
Some have speculated that Haley will hang in until Trump crosses the 1,215 threshold.
Many analysts expect Trump to cross the 1,215 delegate threshold sometime this month. In a memo released last month, Trump’s team predicted he’d hit that milestone by around March 12 — when Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi and Washington State hold their contests.
Once that happens, Trump’s nomination is expected to be formally announced at the Republican National Convention, which will be held July 15-18 in Milwaukee.
Despite his incumbency and lack of a serious primary threat, Biden will face another test on Super Tuesday.
Disgruntled progressive activists have been mobilizing in key states to gin up an “uncommitted” vote in a bid to blemish his political standing in protest of his support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
In Michigan, which has the largest Arab population of any state in the nation, over 100,000 — or 13% of participants — voted “uncommitted” in the primary.
For comparison, in 2012, then-President Barack Obama faced a protest “uncommitted” vote that accumulated just under 21,000 votes — or 10.7% support.
Activists have been scrambling to replicate and expand upon those results in future contests. Groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America have backed those endeavors.
Longshot candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) will face voters in his home state on Tuesday. At the moment, he has zero delegates and he’s not expected to get the benefit of home cooking.
Recently, fellow longshot contender and self-help guru Marianne Williamson unsuspended her campaign after a surprise showing in which she eclipsed Phillips in Michigan.
California will hold its open primary Tuesday for the Senate seat held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) Her seat is being temporarily filled by Laphonza Butler.
For months, Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee have been jockeying in one of the most expensive Senate primary contests of the cycle.
Former Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres first baseman Steve Garvey the top-polling contender on the Republican side. Under California’s system, the top two finishes advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.
Republicans will hope Garvey can crack the top two, if only to prevent the prospect of an all-Democrat general election that sees stepped-up turnout among liberal voters in downballot races.
There will also be key law and order votes in San Francisco and Los Angeles on Super Tuesday.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is facing a primary challenge from 11 opponents, most of whom accuse him of being too soft on crime. San Francisco Mayor London Breed, meanwhile, is championing a ballot measure to bolster police powers.
North Carolina will hold its gubernatorial primary to see whether or not Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein and Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson lock down their respective party nod.
In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton, who survived an impeachment effort last year, is seeking to unseat dozens of Republican legislators who moved to oust him.
Tuesday night will show whether or not his efforts to get payback succeed.
Also in Texas, Democratic Rep. Colin Allred, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, and state Rep. Carl Sherman, will square off for the right to face Cruz in November.
Immediately after Super Tuesday, Democrats will vote in the Hawaii primary on Wednesday and Republicans will partake in the American Samoan caucus Friday.
After the March 12 contests, Republicans in the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam will caucus on the 15th and 16th, respectively.
Then, on March 19, Republicans and Democrats will hold primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio.