The Making of the President 2016: Part 7-Super Tuesday for the Democrats
On Tuesday, March 1, 2016, the Democratic Party held primaries or caucuses in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado (caucuses), Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota (caucuses), Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and American Samoa. As the races approached, Hillary Clinton was expected to do well in most states, but observers continued to express surprise at how well Bernie Sanders was doing in exceeding expectations. Since launching his campaign, Sanders shocked the Democratic establishment, first by nearly defeating Clinton in the Iowa caucuses and then by soundly defeated her in the New Hampshire primaries. Clinton crushed Sanders in South Carolina, and she was counting on her strong support among African-American supporters to bring her victories in the multiple Southern states that would be voting on Super Tuesday. Recent polls supported her in these hopes.
Clinton was hoping for a large margin of victory in states like Texas, Georgia and Virginia, where she hoped to tally up a large number of delegates. She also hoped for victory in some of the states that Sanders was expected to do well in such as Massachusetts or Minnesota.
Despite some dire predictions for Sanders, he maintained that he intended to stay in the race all the way through to the Democratic convention this summer. He told reporters: "You know, at the end of tomorrow I think 15 states will have spoken. Last I heard we have a lot more than 15 states in the United States of America, and I think it is more than appropriate to give all of those states and the people in those states a chance to vote for the candidate of their choice."
As predicted, Clinton won strong victories in all of the Southern contests except Oklahoma. According to exit polls, African-American voters overwhelmingly supported her candidacy. Her biggest victories of the day came in Alabama, where she won 77.8% of the vote to 19.2% for Sanders. But her most significant delegate prize came from Texas, where she received 65.2% of the vote. Collectively, the Southern states gave Clinton a net gain of 165 pledged delegates. Apart from the South, Clinton was also able to narrowly defeat Sanders in Massachusetts. Clinton also won the caucus in the territory of American Samoa.
Sanders scored comfortable wins in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses, and in the Oklahoma primary. As predicted, he won an 86.1% to 13.6% landslide in his home state of Vermont. Although the results overall were unfavorable for Sanders, his four wins close second place finish in other states allowed him to remain in the race in anticipation of more favorable territory in some of the upcoming states. At the end of the day, Clinton collected 518 pledged delegates to Sanders' 347, taking her lead to roughly 200 pledged delegates.
Sanders' supporters accused Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, of violating election laws by campaigning at polling places in Boston. But after the results of the contests were announced, Clinton greeted supporters in Florida, proclaiming "What a super Tuesday." She took a dig at Republican Donald Trump, telling her supporters: “America never stopped being great. We have to make America whole. Instead of building walls, we’re going to break down barriers.”
Clinton was hoping for a large margin of victory in states like Texas, Georgia and Virginia, where she hoped to tally up a large number of delegates. She also hoped for victory in some of the states that Sanders was expected to do well in such as Massachusetts or Minnesota.
Despite some dire predictions for Sanders, he maintained that he intended to stay in the race all the way through to the Democratic convention this summer. He told reporters: "You know, at the end of tomorrow I think 15 states will have spoken. Last I heard we have a lot more than 15 states in the United States of America, and I think it is more than appropriate to give all of those states and the people in those states a chance to vote for the candidate of their choice."
As predicted, Clinton won strong victories in all of the Southern contests except Oklahoma. According to exit polls, African-American voters overwhelmingly supported her candidacy. Her biggest victories of the day came in Alabama, where she won 77.8% of the vote to 19.2% for Sanders. But her most significant delegate prize came from Texas, where she received 65.2% of the vote. Collectively, the Southern states gave Clinton a net gain of 165 pledged delegates. Apart from the South, Clinton was also able to narrowly defeat Sanders in Massachusetts. Clinton also won the caucus in the territory of American Samoa.
Sanders scored comfortable wins in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses, and in the Oklahoma primary. As predicted, he won an 86.1% to 13.6% landslide in his home state of Vermont. Although the results overall were unfavorable for Sanders, his four wins close second place finish in other states allowed him to remain in the race in anticipation of more favorable territory in some of the upcoming states. At the end of the day, Clinton collected 518 pledged delegates to Sanders' 347, taking her lead to roughly 200 pledged delegates.
Sanders' supporters accused Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, of violating election laws by campaigning at polling places in Boston. But after the results of the contests were announced, Clinton greeted supporters in Florida, proclaiming "What a super Tuesday." She took a dig at Republican Donald Trump, telling her supporters: “America never stopped being great. We have to make America whole. Instead of building walls, we’re going to break down barriers.”