It’s Super Tuesday in the presidential primary campaigns and voters in twelve states – Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia – have headed to the polls today.
On the Republican side, frontrunner Donald Trump looks to pile up victories over Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ohio Governor John Kasich and neurosurgeon Ben Carson. There are 595 delegates at stake. 1,237 are needed to capture the Republican nomination.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton will look to grow her delegate lead over Sentor Bernie Sanders. There are 1,032 total delegates of the 2,383 needed to win the Democratic nomination available today.
For breaking news, follow Matzav‘s Super Tuesday live blog below:
7:01 p.m. – ABC News has called Georgia and Virginia for Clinton and Vermont for Sanders.
The Vermont polls-only forecast gave Sanders a 77-percentage-point edge.
7:17 p.m. – On the GOP side, Donald Trump has won Georgia.
7:25 p.m. – POLL TIMES: Polls in Georgia, Vermont and Virginia closed at 7 p.m. EST. Alabama, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Tennessee close at 8 p.m. Most Texas polls close at 8, but a few in the state’s western region will close an hour later. Arkansas’ polls close at 8:30 p.m. Minnesota’s caucuses begin at 8 p.m. Alaska’s caucuses (GOP only) close around midnight. Colorado caucuses begin at 9 p.m. Stay with Matzav for continual live updates.
7:40 p.m. – Bernie Sanders is at a victory rally in his home state of Vermont, thanking supporters. Sanders told the crowd that it meant a lot to him that “the people who know me best” gave him a win. WATCH:
7:58 p.m.: Projections have Donald Trump winning three more states, while Hillary Clinton will win two more. The Washington Post reports that Trump is projected to win the Tennessee, Alabama and Massachusetts primaries on the GOP side. The race in Oklahoma is too close to call, but Cruz enjoys a slight lead there.
On the Democrat side, Clinton is projected to win Alabama and Tennessee by a wide margin. The race in Oklahoma and Massachusetts is too close to call, though Sanders has a slight lead over Clinton in both states.
8:28 p.m. – Hillary Clinton is projected to win the Arkansas Democratic primary. Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas for many years.
Trump is leading in the Republican Arkansas primary, with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio close behind.
8:35 p.m. – SUMMARY THUS FAR: Trump has won so far tonight in Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts and Tennessee.
Hillary Clinton has won so far tonight in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.
Bernie Sanders has won in his home state of Vermont.
8:40 p.m. – Trump is projected to win the Virginia GOP primary, which had 49 delegates at stake. The loss in Virginia is quite a blow for Rubio — a purple state that was one of his best demographic hopes.
9:08 p.m. – Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton are projected to win their respective primaries in the state of Texas. As his hometown state, Texas was a must win for Cruz, who averted what would have been a disastrous loss. However, because Cruz did not win 50%, the 155 delegates will be divided evenly among the candidates.
9:11 p.m. – SUMMARY THUS FAR: Donald Trump wins Virginia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Georgia. Ted Cruz wins Texas. Hillary Clinton wins Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. Bernie Sanders wins Vermont.
9:12 p.m. – Rubio is cutting it close on the delegate thresholds. He’s at 19 in Alabama, 21 in Georgia, 19 in Tennessee, 20 in Texas. If he does not get to 20 percent, he doesn’t get any delegates.
9:14 p.m. – The Associated Press just called Oklahoma for Cruz and Sanders.
9:18 p.m. – Rubio is hitting Trump for being weak on Israel. “When I’m president of the United States we are taking sides. We are on Israel’s side.” Rubio reverted to his old stump speech, warning that the American dream is dying. “What’s at stake my friends, is not just the future of America, but also the future of the conservative movement.” Rubio continued to vow that a “con artist” (Trump) will not become president.
9:25 p.m. – Some quotes from Rubio, who closed his remarks with some words in Spanish:
“We have some states waiting for me in the next few days, but then we’re coming to Florida.”
“We will not allow the party of Lincoln and Reagan to fall into the hands of a con-artist.”
“I will campaign as long as it takes to ensure that I am the next president of the United States,”
“Do not give into the fear, do not give into anger. Do not give into sham artists and con artists who try to take advantage of your suffering, your hardships.”
“I believe in free enterprise, not because my parents were wealthy. I didn’t inherit $100 million.”
9:29 p.m. – RUBIO VIDEO:
9:36 p.m. – Speaking in Miami, Florida, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addressed supporters after winning several state primaries on Super Tuesday. WATCH:
9:38 P.M. – Chris Christie is introducing Donald Trump now.
9:45 P.M. – Trump congratulated Cruz on winning in Texas. He then took a shot at Clinton, saying she’s been around so long that if she hasn’t been able to fix America’s problems, she can’t now. He called Rubio a lightweight and said donors and special interests “who want their little senator to do what they want” will pump millions into his campaign.
10:12 p.m. – Trump concludes: “I am a unifier. I would like to see the Republican Party get together and unify.”
10:17 P.M. – Trump is projected to win the Arkansas primary.
10:29 p.m. – Some quotes from Cruz’s speech:
“From this day forward, let us show that Reagan’s love, optimism and faith in the American people were not misplaced.
“America shouldn’t have a president whose words would make you embarrassed if your children repeated them.”
Ouch.
“Head-to-head, our campaign beats Donald Trump resoundingly.”
Cruz also called on candidates who have not won a state to “come together.” That means to quit, we guess.
“That would be a disaster for Republicans, for conservatives and for the nation,” Cruz said of a Trump nomination.
“Tonight was another decision point, and the voters have spoken,” Cruz said of his wins.
10:39 p.m. SUMMARY THUS FAR – Donald Trump has won Arkansas, Virginia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Georgia. Ted Cruz has won Texas and Oklahoma. Hillary Clinton has won Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. Bernie Sanders has won Oklahoma and Vermont.
10:52 p.m. – Several news outlets are projecting for Hillary Clinton to win a close race in the Massachusetts Democratic Primary.
10:56 p.m. – Marco Rubio has picked up his first win with a victory in Minnesota. Considering how positive-minded he was after his losses, Rubio must be in dance mode with his W in Minny. The Florida Senator had a slight edge over Cruz, with Trump a distant third.
11:06 p.m. – Bernie Sanders wins the state of Colorado.
11:23 p.m. – Bernie Sanders wins the state of Massachusetts.
11:43 p.m. – Republican Ben Carson told supporters in Baltimore that he was not ready to end his campaign, despite not winning a single state on Super Tuesday.
11:58 p.m. – Trump wins the state of Vermont.
4:04 a.m. – Cruz wins Alaska.
{Matzav.com Newscenter}
Various media proprietors and their steerers are trying to make it seem that it is a done deal that it will be Hillary vs Trump for the Presidential race. e.g. Jpost’s headline an hour ago says “Trump and Clinton leave rivals in the dust after Super Tuesday races.” Jpost’s headline and editorial here is highly mischievous. It looks like the owners and steerers of Jpost and other media outlets want it to be a Hillary vs Trump race whereby Trump will blow his chances and Hillary will be a shoo in. Some people are trying to fix the race.
Let me explain…
Yes it looks like Hillary Clinton is a certainty for the Democratic Party nomination. But the Republican side of the equation is where it gets very interesting. Jpost and others are trying to make it seem that Trump is a sure winner of the GOP race. However the facts suggest otherwise. Trump’s overall percentage of the popular votes is stagnant. He has not moved beyond a 33% average. He is not gaining momentum at all.
Ted Cruz did better in his home state of Texas than what was predicted. He won 44% of the vote. He also has won Oklahoma and Alaska. Thus giving him four states in total. Rubio is not down for the count either. His win in Minnesota with 37% of the vote was surprisingly strong. And Kasich and Carson are hanging on to make the race interesting.
It all depends now on how the race plays out. If Carson and Kasich drop out then it will be a three horse race. Based on the delegate maths the probability that there will be a brokered GOP convention has increased dramatically after “Super Tuesday”.
It looks almost impossible for Trump to secure the 1227 delegates by July 18th. Cruz will certainly not drop out to hand the nomination to Trump on a plate. The way a brokered convention could also be avoided is if various candidates drop out and their delegates pledge to support a certain candidate.
Thus the GOP race is certainly on in earnest. Stay tuned everyone…
I repeat…I think Ted Cruz would make a good Commander in Chief of the great USA from early 2017 to early 2025. He is not perfect by any means. He needs to heed some wise counsel on a number of issues, especially foreign policy. But overall he has the makings of a decent President.
P.S. Many people are also ignoring the huge elephant in the room right now. And that is the Zika + Microcephaly Outbreak. Puerto Rico has just reported local transmissions. Florida is not far away. Spring is coming soon. Warmer weather is on its way. There are more than two mosquitoes in the USA that can act as vectors/carriers for Zika +. so all the remaining candidates are going to have to address the issue in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned everyone…The best laid schemes of mice and men.