Super Tuesday: US election update

Democratic Party presidential primaries results 2024. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Last week saw the most significant day so far in the run-up to the US presidential election: Super Tuesday. It marks the moment when 16 states hold their presidential caucuses and primaries, including California and Texas. 

Donald Trump and Joe Biden dominated the elections, making a rematch of the 2020 election a serious likelihood. Nikki Haley dropped out of the Presidential campaign on Wednesday morning, after being defeated by Trump in 14 out of 15 Republican primary elections. This makes Trump’s election essentially all but official, however, Haley is yet to officially endorse his nomination as most other Republican rivals have done. In a speech in Charleston, South Carolina she said: it’s “up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond who did not support him”. 

Although there were not enough delegates to ensure a secure party nomination for Trump, Haley’s departure has set the stage for his success. In his speech at Mar-a-Lago, he made no mention of Haley, instead referring to the day as a “big one”, “they tell me, the pundits and otherwise, that there’s never been one like this”.  

It seems, however, that turnout this year has been notably poor. Only about 8% of eligible voters in California turned in their mail-in ballots. Experts argue that a perceived lack of competition is demotivating potential voters. 

Despite a difficult few months defined by international issues and low approval rates, Biden was successful. He managed to win consistently around 80% of the vote in each state, helped by the absence of any real challenger. The biggest threat to the President was the protest vote from anti-war Democrats. In Michigan, 100,000 votes were cast as uncommitted in an attempt to urge for an immediate ceasefire. Since Tuesday, Vice-President Kamala Harris has called for a temporary ceasefire. Organisers of the ‘uncommitted’ vote have said it shows that the protest is working. Whilst Biden is sure to earn the nomination, the anti-war movement will continue to make things difficult for him, as pressure builds from within the party to call for a ceasefire. 

All signs point to a Biden vs Trump election in November, with both already targeting their campaigns against one another.