March 5 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump has won primaries in 11 states and is leading across several more on Super Tuesday while Nikki Haley won a tight race in Vermont. President Joe Biden is poised to take most state Democratic delegates up for grabs.
Trump declared Tuesday an overall success when he took the podium before 10:30 p.m. EST. At that point, he had won Virginia and Oklahoma. He has since won Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas and Tennessee.
“They call it ‘Super Tuesday’ for a reason. This is a big one,” Trump said. “And they tell me, the pundits and otherwise, that there’s never been one like this. There’s never been anything so conclusive.”
Trump received more than 1.4 million votes in the Texas primary, or about 79% of the vote. The Republican National Committee will seat 161 delegates from the Lone Star State, the second-most of any state contest held Tuesday.
Trump earned more than 400,000 votes in Virginia with more than 94% of polling locations reporting. Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley has more than 226,000 votes. She is the only other Republican candidate still campaigning against the former president.
Trump has called for Haley to concede as early as the first slate nominating processes in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Haley vowed to remain in the race at least through Tuesday.
Vermont was the most competitive race for the Republican nomination. At about 9 p.m. EST, only one vote separated Trump and Haley. By 10 p.m. EST, Haley had moved ahead of Trump by fewer than 100 votes. Her lead grew to as many as 4,000 votes.
Haley’s spokesperson said in a campaign email that Haley is the first Republican woman to win two presidential primaries.
“Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump,” Olivia Perez-Cubas, national campaign spokesperson for the Haley campaign, said in a statement. “That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters’ concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.”
Biden won Virginia’s Democratic primary, carrying about 89% of the vote. He also won in Maine and Massachusetts, according to NBC News and CNN. Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., has received about 3% of the vote in Virginia and Vermont.
Biden also won in Alabama, North Carolina, Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Vermont, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
“Tonight’s results leave the American people with a clear choice: Are we going to keep moving forward or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us backwards into the chaos, division and darkness that defined his term in office,” Biden said in an email from his campaign. “Today, millions of voters across the country made their voices heard — showing that they are ready to fight back against Donald Trump’s extreme plan to take us backwards.”
Biden suffered one loss on Tuesday, losing to candidate Jason Palmer in the American Samoa primary. More than 12% of North Carolina voters chose “no preference” on the Democratic ticket.
Nearly 30% of voters in Oklahoma chose other candidates over Biden. Author Marianne Williamson had more than 9% and Phillips had just short of 9%. Williamson suspended her campaign last month before re-entering the race last week.
Phillips took about 8% of the vote in his home state. Nearly 30% of votes in Minnesota were “uncommitted.”
Voters casted ballots in 15 states and one territory to select the Republican and Democratic nominees for the 2024 presidential election. It’s the single biggest day in the nominating process. More than one-third of Republican and Democratic delegates were up for grabs.
Thirteen states held nominating contests for both major parties. Alaska and Utah held caucuses for the Republican Party. And American Samoa held a Democratic primary.
Biden won the Iowa Democratic caucus Tuesday, marking the first result to come in on Super Tuesday. The win in Iowa actually came as the result of Iowa Democrats’ mail-only caucus process last month. The president will receive 40 delegates. He has also won in Oklahoma, Vermont, Tennessee and Arkansas.
Biden earned 206 of 208 delegates for the Democratic Party coming into the day. There are 1,420 delegates to be awarded Tuesday for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 19. To win the nomination a candidate needs 1,969 delegates.
Two delegates were left uncommitted from Michigan’s Democratic primary. More than 15% of votes were “uncommitted” after Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., called for a protest vote over Biden’s support of Israel. Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American elected to Congress, called for a protest vote to voice support for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
Trump entered the day with 244 delegates to Haley’s 43. Trump has won every Republican primary and caucus coming into the day except for the District of Columbia, which Haley won on Sunday. On Tuesday, 865 delegates will be decided for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15.
Trump or Haley needs 1,215 of the 2,429 total delegates to win the Republican nomination.
California and Texas will award the largest share of delegates for both parties on Tuesday. Democrats will seat 424 from California and 244 from Texas.
Poll closing varied from state to state. For instance, polls closed in Alabama at 7 p.m. EST, Arkansas at 8:30 p.m. EST and California at 11 p.m. EST. Polls in Alaska closed at midnight EST.
The rules around who can vote in which party’s contest also vary by state. In general, voters may only participate in one party’s nominating process. In some cases, this is based on being registered with that party.
Down the ballot in California, Democrat Adam Schiff received more than 1.1 million votes to become the Democratic nominee for Senate. He will face Republican Steve Garvey in the general election.
In Texas, Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, both Republicans, won their primaries as they seek re-election. Rep. Colin Allred won the Democratic primary to challenge Cruz for his Senate seat.