Former President Donald Trump achieved expected clear victories in the US Republican primaries on Super Tuesday. He clearly prevailed against his remaining opponent, Nikki Haley, in the large states of Texas, Virginia and Massachusetts and in seven other states. Only in the small state of Vermont on the East Coast did Haley approach him. Among Democrats, current Joe Biden initially won big victories in 14 of the 16 states where voting took place.
The loss in Virginia was particularly painful for Haley, as she felt she had a better chance of winning there. After four-fifths of the votes were counted, Trump defeated Haley 63% to 35%. Trump's victories in Massachusetts and Colorado also fit this picture. In Texas, according to early count results, he got 74 percent. His victories were equally high in North Carolina and Tennessee, in Oklahoma, Minnesota and Arkansas he achieved around 80% and in Alabama up to 90%. The only close race was in Vermont, where Trump was leading 49.6 to 46.7 percent after three-quarters of the votes were counted.
Before Super Tuesday, the former US ambassador to the UN had only achieved a symbolic victory against Trump in the capital district of Washington DC; in the remaining eight primaries, the president, who was eliminated in 2020, had the best result.
Biden won more than 90% of the vote in Iowa, Maine, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas. It landed just below that in Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Minnesota, Vermont, Massachusetts and Utah. With 72 percent, Biden had the worst result of the night in the Republican stronghold of Oklahoma. The incumbent is particularly pleased with the result in Iowa, where he suffered a painful defeat four years ago. The Midwestern US state traditionally opens the primary election cycle in January. This year, however, this was only the case with Republicans.
Decisions were still pending that evening in the western states of Utah, California and Alaska, where the last polling places were scheduled to close at 6am CET. Final results from California likely won't be available for a few days.
Primary elections formally determine the delegates who will elect the presidential candidate at the summer's Democratic and Republican nominating conventions. In the Republican race, Trump already had 706 votes after his first victories on Super Tuesday, while Haley had just 46 votes. At least 1,215 votes are needed for nomination. Biden had collected 924 votes and was also still far from an absolute majority (1,968).
Unlike previous years, this year's Super Tuesday is practically devoid of any political tension. Although Biden is the incumbent among Democrats, observers see no chance for Haley among Republicans. She was widely expected to throw in the towel after Super Tuesday. If she fails to do so, it could indicate that she will run as an independent candidate.