It’s Super Tuesday, when citizens in 12 states (and American Samoa) will cast their votes in the Republican and Democratic nominating contests. If polls prove accurate, Hillary Clinton should open a substantial delegate lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination. Meanwhile, Donald Trump seems poised to continue his improbable march to the GOP nomination, with Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio largely battling it out for second place in most states. (Oh, and Ben Carson and John Kasich are still kicking around, too). But polls have been minimal in a number of states, so who knows!
The first round of polls close at 7 p.m. Eastern in Alabama, Georgia, Vermont, and Virginia, followed at 8 p.m. by Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Tennessee (and most of Texas). Next up is Arkansas at 8:30 p.m. and the western edges of Texas at 9 p.m., with results from Minnesota’s caucuses likely coming in sometime shortly around then as well. Democrats in Colorado will start caucusing at 9 p.m., and Alaska will be dragging it out to a late night, with polls closing at midnight Eastern time.
We’ll be here all night updating you on the latest as the news rolls in from across the country.
UPDATE 17, March 2, 12:30 a.m. ET: The Associated Press has called Vermont for Trump. He edges out John Kasich, who is also dueling with Rubio for second place in Massachusetts.
UPDATE 16, March 1, 11:30 p.m. ET: 11:30 p.m. Sanders is predicted to win the Minnesota caucuses—his fourth win of the night.
UPDATE 15, March 1, 11:25 p.m. ET: Rubio notched his first win of the night (and in the entire Republican primary race) in the Minnesota caucuses. Meanwhile, Clinton is predicted to win a narrow victory in Massachusetts. Sanders had a lot going for him in the Bay State, but it appears that he came up short.
UPDATE 14, March 1, 10:57 p.m. ET: It’s been a rough night for Sanders, with Clinton running up wins across the South, but he got a pleasant bit of news late Tuesday night. NBC News and Fox have projected that he will win the Colorado caucuses.
UPDATE 13, March 1, 10:20 p.m. ET: NBC has just called Arkansas for Trump.
UPDATE 12, March 1, 10:15 p.m. ET: So far, Rubio has not won a single state tonight—but there is still hope! Early returns from the Minnesota caucuses show that Rubio could pull out a victory there.
Rubio winning in Minnesota with 10 percent counted https://t.co/h1TW1B4yN9
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) March 2, 2016
A few states remain too close to call: on the GOP side, Arkansas and Vermont, and on the Democratic side, Sanders and Clinton are still neck and neck in Massachusetts.
UPDATE 11, March 1, 9:40 p.m. ET: In lieu of the traditional primary night speech, Trump is holding a news conference in Palm Beach, Florida. Watch it live:
UPDATE 11, March 1, 9:15 p.m. ET: The networks have called Oklahoma for Cruz and Sanders. It is the second win of the night for both candidates.
UPDATE 10, March 1, 9:10 p.m. ET: Rubio delivered his election night speech in Miami without any wins under his belt yet. In his speech, he continued his assault on Trump.
Rubio: “We are going to send a message that the party of Lincoln and Reagan and the presidency … will never be held by a con artist.”
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) March 2, 2016
UPDATE 9, March 1, 9 p.m. ET: As soon as polls closed across Texas, the networks called the race for Cruz and Clinton. Exit polls showed the former secretary of state was on track to win about two-thirds of the votes. This is an important win for Cruz, whose presidential bid would have been in deep trouble if he didn’t prevail in his home state.
UPDATE 8, March 1, 8:39 p.m. ET: Clinton is addressing supporters in Miami. Watch her speech live below.
UPDATE 8, March 1, 8:39 p.m. ET: So much for Rubio’s big comeback on Super Tuesday. Fox News and CNN have declared Trump the winner of the Virginia primary with more than 80 percent of the state reporting; it’s the fifth state he’s won so far. Meanwhile, neither Rubio nor Cruz have yet to rack up a single win—though results from Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Vermont, where polls have closed, are to be determined.
UPDATE 7, March 1, 8:31 p.m. ET: The TV networks quickly called Arkansas for Clinton right after polls closed there at 8:30 p.m. It’s one of the least surprising results of the night, since Clinton started her political career there when her husband served as governor. Over on the Republican side, things were not quite so clear with the networks holding off on projecting a winner.
UPDATE 6, March 1, 8:02 p.m. ET: It didn’t take long after polls closed at 8 p.m. for Trump to rack up another string of victories. Massachusetts, Alabama, and Tennessee were all called for Trump, with Oklahoma still too close to judge. So far, Trump has won four states. On the Democratic side, Clinton was instantly declared the victor in Alabama and Tennessee. She and Sanders are still locked in close races in Massachusetts and Oklahoma.
UPDATE 5, March 1, 8:00 p.m. ET: Sanders addressed a big crowd in his home state of Vermont, where he vowed that he would win the nomination and he promised that by the end of the night, his campaign would have amassed “hundreds of delegates.” (All states in the Democratic race allot delegates proportionally, though the exact rules differ by state.)
UPDATE 4, March 1, 7:45 p.m. ET: Don’t hold your breath for Republican results in Virginia anytime soon. Trump and Rubio are in a tight race for first place—and it might not be until late tonight that we know who has won. Rubio is dominating in the Washington, DC, suburbs, while Trump’s advantage comes from outside northern Virginia. Number crunchers at the New York Times and other outlets are pointing to Chesterfield County, a swing district near the state capital of Richmond, as a bellwether—and results there are trickling in and showing a very tight race.
First precincts reporting in Chesterfield County, GOP suburb of Richmond, gives Trump a 3 point edge. It’s a bellwether.
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) March 2, 2016
To my eye, it looks like Rubio on track to finish within 5% of Trump in VA. But, could be even closer. Still early, we’ll see.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) March 2, 2016
UPDATE 3, March 1, 7:25 p.m. ET: Bernie Sanders has likely lost Virginia by a wide margin, with the networks projecting that Clinton would win there immediately after polls closed. But even as Clinton likely wins the most delegates, the state shows that the Democratic front-runner is still struggling to win over Millennial voters. According to an exit poll from the Washington Post, Sanders carried voters aged 17 to 29 by a 71-27 percent margin. But Clinton carried every other age group, winning voters over the age of 65 by an 83-16 percent margin.
UPDATE 2, March 1, 7:05 p.m. ET: Results were barely in Tuesday night, but Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager was already insisting that Sanders’ campaign would stick things out until the end of the nomination process.
“We’re going all the way to the convention” Bernie campaign manager Jeff Weaver says on CNN.
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) March 2, 2016
UPDATE 1, March 1, 7 p.m. ET: As polls closed on the East Coast, the networks were able to immediately predict the winners in a handful of states. On the Republican side, Trump is predicted to win in Georgia. Virginia is too close to call, with Trump and Rubio battling for first place. On the Democratic side, Clinton is predicted to win Georgia and Virginia. Sanders is predicted to win Vermont, his home state.
