His triumph was sudden and unexpected, but his faux pas was less so: When Joe Biden climbed onto the stage in Los Angeles on the very late evening of March 3, 2020, to celebrate his victory on “Super Tuesday,” he grabbed the hand of someone next to him standing woman. He declared solemnly: “This is my little sister.” Which, unfortunately, she wasn’t. She was also standing next to him, just on the other side.
The usual, albeit small, embarrassment for Biden was quickly forgotten, because that evening the man who would throw Donald Trump out of the White House six months later returned to the presidential race. “Super Tuesday” once again set the decisive pre-election course. Like twelve years before, when Barack Obama left Hillary Clinton behind – and ultimately became US President.
With “Super Tuesday” the US election is heading towards its first climax.
In the USA, the parties’ presidential candidates are determined by preliminary votes in the individual states. The elections are concentrated on “Super Tuesday”, which traditionally takes place at the beginning of March. Voting is scheduled in 15 states this year, including populous states like California and Texas.
The primaries will take place in the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, California, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia. Elections will also take place in the US territory of American Samoa.
Both Democrats and Republicans vote. There is also the result of the Democratic primary in Iowa, which was held by email over the past few weeks.
Delegates are elected who then present the votes at the party conferences. Each state sends a different number of elected representatives depending on the size of the population. For large states like Texas there are more than 200, small regions like American Samoa only six. Roughly speaking, a third of the delegates will vote on Super Tuesday. This year, the Republicans will have 874 out of a total of 2,429 representatives. After super election day, almost half of all votes have been cast.
Since the 1980s, the winners of Super Tuesday have always become their parties’ presidential candidates.
This year everything is different. Because the candidates for both the Democrats and the Republicans are almost certain. As the incumbent US President, Joe Biden enjoys the privilege of being able to enter the race without serious internal party competition. And Republicans have long been completely devoted to Donald Trump.
However: Democrats are discussing Biden’s age and fitness for office ever louder. It is therefore unlikely, although not impossible, that the 81-year-old might make way for someone younger.
Read here how the Democrats could move forward without Joe Biden
Donald Trump, on the other hand, is not so much troubled by his advanced age, but rather by his numerous ongoing lawsuits. It is therefore unlikely, although not impossible, that Trump will be replaced by another candidate at the last minute.
The primary elections run until the beginning of June. Afterwards, the party conferences take place at which the candidates are officially chosen. The Republicans meet in mid-July in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Democrats a month later a few kilometers further south in Chicago, Illinois.
The conventions are three-day spectacles at which the parties celebrate themselves and their candidates. The Democrats need a majority of 3,979 delegates to run for president. The Republicans have a majority of 2,429 delegates.
