The Making of the President 2016: Part 6-Super Tuesday for the GOP
As March 1, 2016 (or "Super Tuesday" as it was dubbed) approached, the field of Republican candidates for the Presidency had narrowed down to five: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Ben Carson. Super Tuesday was a significant day in the campaign for the Republicans as Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming held primaries or caucuses. Republican candidates were contending for the opportunity to win about half of the 1,237 delegates needed. The number of delegates from Texas was the largest of all of the states holding contests that day, with 155 delegates up for grabs. All of the contests awarded their delegates proportionally, and the results in Colorado were not binding on the delegates.
As Super Tuesday approached, many Republican Party insiders expressed surprise at how Donald Trump had exceeded all expectations and how he had tapped into voters' discontent. His lead thus far was viewed by many as insurmountable and many considered a contested convention as the best-case scenario for Trump’s opponents. Trump was predicted to do well, according to polling numbers, in most of the Super Tuesday states. Rubio and Kasich both predicted each would win in their home states, but in Rubio's case, this was not supported by polling numbers.
Trump seemed to be employing a divide and conquer strategy as Rubio and Cruz battled over who was best posed to be Trump's top challenger. Kasich was also seeking this role, though with a lower level of credibility at this point. On February 26th, Governor Chris Christie threw his support behind Trump. In the press conference making the announcement, Christie said that Trump was "rewriting the playbook for American politics." In a debate held at the University of Houston the night before, Trump said: "I'm bringing people, Democrats, over, I'm bringing independents over, and we're going to build a Republican Party."
On election night, the predictions of a Trump victory came to pass. Trump won seven states, with Cruz winning three and Rubio only winning one. Trump won 255 delegates, compared to 217 for Cruz, 96 for Rubio, 21 for Kasich and 3 for Carson. The results are shown in greater detail in the table below:
Following the Super Tuesday results, each campaign underwent a re-evaluation. For the Rubio campaign, Super Tuesday was very disappointing. Although he was declared the winner in the Minnesota caucuses, his win-loss record was 1-14 and he finished third in at least half the states. Despite five days of relentless attacks on Trump, Rubio was not able to erode Trump's support.
Cruz did well enough to position himself as the main challenger to Trump, carrying his home state of Texas, as well as Alaska and Oklahoma. Months earlier, Cruz had predicted that Super Tuesday, with its Southern predominance, would be the day he took command of the contest, but instead, it was the day he remained running behind Trump, with Rubio and Kasich still in the race. His message became one which proclaimed that he was the only candidate able to stop Trump.
Kasich finished second to Trump in Vermont, but remained a distinct underdog following Super Tuesday. He pinned his hopes to gain momentum on the upcoming Michigan and Ohio primaries, to be held later in the month.
Naturally, Trump supporters were pleased with the results. From the campaign's perspective, not only did Trump come closer to winning the nomination, but they maintained that their candidate had attracted a voting bloc that has soured on the party leadership. They pointed to his victories in disparate regions of the country. In Georgia, Alabama and Massachusetts, he won with roughly 40 percent or more of the vote. Those opposed to Trump who were hoping that his support would burn out before the end of 2015 were proven wrong. Trump appeared capable of surviving mistakes and misstatements that hurt most normal candidates, drawing on a source of discontent within the nation that none of the other candidates had been able to attract. Following the Super Tuesday results, reporter Dan Balz wrote: "Today, those desperate to prevent Trump from hijacking the party recognize his strength and his seeming inevitability but seem powerless to stop him."
As Super Tuesday approached, many Republican Party insiders expressed surprise at how Donald Trump had exceeded all expectations and how he had tapped into voters' discontent. His lead thus far was viewed by many as insurmountable and many considered a contested convention as the best-case scenario for Trump’s opponents. Trump was predicted to do well, according to polling numbers, in most of the Super Tuesday states. Rubio and Kasich both predicted each would win in their home states, but in Rubio's case, this was not supported by polling numbers.
Trump seemed to be employing a divide and conquer strategy as Rubio and Cruz battled over who was best posed to be Trump's top challenger. Kasich was also seeking this role, though with a lower level of credibility at this point. On February 26th, Governor Chris Christie threw his support behind Trump. In the press conference making the announcement, Christie said that Trump was "rewriting the playbook for American politics." In a debate held at the University of Houston the night before, Trump said: "I'm bringing people, Democrats, over, I'm bringing independents over, and we're going to build a Republican Party."
On election night, the predictions of a Trump victory came to pass. Trump won seven states, with Cruz winning three and Rubio only winning one. Trump won 255 delegates, compared to 217 for Cruz, 96 for Rubio, 21 for Kasich and 3 for Carson. The results are shown in greater detail in the table below:
Following the Super Tuesday results, each campaign underwent a re-evaluation. For the Rubio campaign, Super Tuesday was very disappointing. Although he was declared the winner in the Minnesota caucuses, his win-loss record was 1-14 and he finished third in at least half the states. Despite five days of relentless attacks on Trump, Rubio was not able to erode Trump's support.
Cruz did well enough to position himself as the main challenger to Trump, carrying his home state of Texas, as well as Alaska and Oklahoma. Months earlier, Cruz had predicted that Super Tuesday, with its Southern predominance, would be the day he took command of the contest, but instead, it was the day he remained running behind Trump, with Rubio and Kasich still in the race. His message became one which proclaimed that he was the only candidate able to stop Trump.
Kasich finished second to Trump in Vermont, but remained a distinct underdog following Super Tuesday. He pinned his hopes to gain momentum on the upcoming Michigan and Ohio primaries, to be held later in the month.
Naturally, Trump supporters were pleased with the results. From the campaign's perspective, not only did Trump come closer to winning the nomination, but they maintained that their candidate had attracted a voting bloc that has soured on the party leadership. They pointed to his victories in disparate regions of the country. In Georgia, Alabama and Massachusetts, he won with roughly 40 percent or more of the vote. Those opposed to Trump who were hoping that his support would burn out before the end of 2015 were proven wrong. Trump appeared capable of surviving mistakes and misstatements that hurt most normal candidates, drawing on a source of discontent within the nation that none of the other candidates had been able to attract. Following the Super Tuesday results, reporter Dan Balz wrote: "Today, those desperate to prevent Trump from hijacking the party recognize his strength and his seeming inevitability but seem powerless to stop him."