The Making of the President 2016: Part 9-March 8th-12th Contests
The Republicans
On March 8, the Republican party held contests in four more states. It was a good night for Donald Trump as he won in three of the contests in diverse regions of the country. Trump was victorious in Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii, while Ted Cruz won in Idaho. March 8th was not a good night for Marco Rubio. He failed to receive enough votes to win any delegate in Michigan, Mississippi and Idaho, and he finished the night with only a single delegate. It was not the result he wanted or needed in order to position himself as a viable alternative to Trump or Cruz. Despite some favorable polling in Michigan, John Kasich did not win any primaries, but he did better than Rubio, as he was able to win 17 delegates. But neither Rubio nor Kasich finished first or second in any primaries held on March 8.
Just five days earlier, on March 3, the GOP candidates squared off in their eleventh debate held at the Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit. It was the third debate to air on Fox News Channel. Once again Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace served as moderators. Fox announced that in order for candidates to qualify, they must have at least 3 percent support in the five most recent national polls by March 1 at 5 pm. Ben Carson had announced on March 2 he would not be attending the debate. The debate also drew controversy for its low intellectual level of debate. Rubio had previously said of Trump, "And you know what they say about men with small hands? You can’t trust them." In one exchange during the debate, Trump said:
"I also happened to call him a lightweight, okay, and I have said that, so I would like to take that back. He's really not that much of a lightweight. And as far as, I have to say this, I have to say this, he hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I've never heard of this. [Holding up his hands, palms forward] Look at those hands, are they small hands? And he referred to my hands. If they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there's no problem, I guarantee you."
Despite being a very wealthy man running in a state that had been adversely affected economically, voters in the primary bore no resentment against Trump. He received 482,825 votes (36.50%) to capture 25 delegates. Ted Cruz finished second with 328,894 votes (24.86%) to receive 17 delegates, while John Kasich finished a close third with 320,505 votes (24.23%) also resulting in his winning 17 delegates. Marco Rubio finihed fourth with 123,231 votes (9.32%) but did not receive any delegates as a result.
In Mississippi only Trump and Cruz won any delegates. Trump finished first with 191,751 votes (47.32%) to win 25 delegates. Cruz finished second with 147,066 votes (36.29%) to win 15 delegates. Three candidates won delegates in the Hawaii Primary. Trump received 5,673 votes (42.40%) to win 11 delegates. Cruz received 4,380 votes (32.74%) to win 7 delegates, and Rubio received 1,761 votes (13.16%) to win 1 delegate.
Cruz's only first place finish was in Idaho's Primary, where he received 100,943 votes (45.42%) and 20 delegates. Trump finished second with 62,474 votes (28.11%) to win the remaining 12 delegates.
In the Virgin Islands caucuses on March 10, a slate composed wholly of uncommitted delegates was initially elected. The entire slate was later disqualified by the territorial party, however, and replaced by the elected alternates – 2 uncommitted, 2 for Rubio, 1 for Cruz, and 1 for Trump. On March 12, the Guam caucuses endorsed eight uncommitted delegates and one unbound Cruz-supporting delegate. Rubio won in Washington, DC, receiving 1,059 votes (37.3%) and 10 delegates, while John Kasich was the only other candidate to win delegates there. He received 1,009 votes (35.54%) and 9 delegates. At the Wyoming convention, Cruz received 1,128 votes (70.94%) and 9 delegates, while Rubio and Trump each won a single delegate. Rubio received 231 votes (14.53%) and Trump received 112 votes (7.04%).
The Democrats
For the Democratic Party, two states had held nominating contests on March 8th: Michigan and Mississippi. Hillary Clinton was heavily favored to win both primaries. Mississippi, as expected, went for Clinton by a large margin. She received 182,448 votes (82.64%) resulting in 32 pledged and 3 unpledged delegates in her column. Sanders received 36,349 votes (16.46%) to win only 4 pledged and 1 unpledged delegates.
But Sanders surprised everyone by scoring a narrow win in Michigan. His victory may have been attributable in part to a good performance at the seventh presidential debate held on March 6th at the The Whiting at the Flint Cultural Center. Flint, Michigan was chosen as the debate sight because of the Flint water crisis. The debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper and it aired on CNN. Participants were Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. At the end of the debate, Cooper announced a labor union fund had committed $25 million in low-interest loans towards repairing the water system. The next day, on March 7, 2016, a Town Hall event, was held as the eighth democratic forum. It started at 6:00 p.m. E.S.T., at the Gem Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, and was aired by the Fox News Channel. The forum was moderated by Bret Baier.
Going into the vote, most polls showed Clinton with polling numbers of between 55 and 65%. But when the ballots were counted, Sanders received 593,563 votes (49.75%) to win 67 pledged delegates. In an anomaly, Clinton finished second with 575,512 votes (48.23%) and while she received 63 pledged delegates, she also won an additional 10 unpledged delegates, meaning that she finished second, but actually ended up with potentially more delegates than Sanders.
On March 12, Clinton also won 9 of the 11 delegates allocated to the Northern Marianas in a closed caucus, receiving 102 votes (54.0%) to 65 (34.4%) for Sanders. Four of Clinton's nine delegates were pledged, the other five were unpledged. Both of Sanders' two delegates were pledged.
The candidates next set their sights on what was called the second "Super Tuesday" - March 15th, when primaries would be held in the large swing states of Florida and Ohio, as well as in Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina. Many delegates were at stake and the contest was seen as a last stand for Rubio and Kasich.
On March 8, the Republican party held contests in four more states. It was a good night for Donald Trump as he won in three of the contests in diverse regions of the country. Trump was victorious in Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii, while Ted Cruz won in Idaho. March 8th was not a good night for Marco Rubio. He failed to receive enough votes to win any delegate in Michigan, Mississippi and Idaho, and he finished the night with only a single delegate. It was not the result he wanted or needed in order to position himself as a viable alternative to Trump or Cruz. Despite some favorable polling in Michigan, John Kasich did not win any primaries, but he did better than Rubio, as he was able to win 17 delegates. But neither Rubio nor Kasich finished first or second in any primaries held on March 8.
Just five days earlier, on March 3, the GOP candidates squared off in their eleventh debate held at the Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit. It was the third debate to air on Fox News Channel. Once again Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace served as moderators. Fox announced that in order for candidates to qualify, they must have at least 3 percent support in the five most recent national polls by March 1 at 5 pm. Ben Carson had announced on March 2 he would not be attending the debate. The debate also drew controversy for its low intellectual level of debate. Rubio had previously said of Trump, "And you know what they say about men with small hands? You can’t trust them." In one exchange during the debate, Trump said:
"I also happened to call him a lightweight, okay, and I have said that, so I would like to take that back. He's really not that much of a lightweight. And as far as, I have to say this, I have to say this, he hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I've never heard of this. [Holding up his hands, palms forward] Look at those hands, are they small hands? And he referred to my hands. If they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there's no problem, I guarantee you."
Despite being a very wealthy man running in a state that had been adversely affected economically, voters in the primary bore no resentment against Trump. He received 482,825 votes (36.50%) to capture 25 delegates. Ted Cruz finished second with 328,894 votes (24.86%) to receive 17 delegates, while John Kasich finished a close third with 320,505 votes (24.23%) also resulting in his winning 17 delegates. Marco Rubio finihed fourth with 123,231 votes (9.32%) but did not receive any delegates as a result.
In Mississippi only Trump and Cruz won any delegates. Trump finished first with 191,751 votes (47.32%) to win 25 delegates. Cruz finished second with 147,066 votes (36.29%) to win 15 delegates. Three candidates won delegates in the Hawaii Primary. Trump received 5,673 votes (42.40%) to win 11 delegates. Cruz received 4,380 votes (32.74%) to win 7 delegates, and Rubio received 1,761 votes (13.16%) to win 1 delegate.
Cruz's only first place finish was in Idaho's Primary, where he received 100,943 votes (45.42%) and 20 delegates. Trump finished second with 62,474 votes (28.11%) to win the remaining 12 delegates.
In the Virgin Islands caucuses on March 10, a slate composed wholly of uncommitted delegates was initially elected. The entire slate was later disqualified by the territorial party, however, and replaced by the elected alternates – 2 uncommitted, 2 for Rubio, 1 for Cruz, and 1 for Trump. On March 12, the Guam caucuses endorsed eight uncommitted delegates and one unbound Cruz-supporting delegate. Rubio won in Washington, DC, receiving 1,059 votes (37.3%) and 10 delegates, while John Kasich was the only other candidate to win delegates there. He received 1,009 votes (35.54%) and 9 delegates. At the Wyoming convention, Cruz received 1,128 votes (70.94%) and 9 delegates, while Rubio and Trump each won a single delegate. Rubio received 231 votes (14.53%) and Trump received 112 votes (7.04%).
The Democrats
For the Democratic Party, two states had held nominating contests on March 8th: Michigan and Mississippi. Hillary Clinton was heavily favored to win both primaries. Mississippi, as expected, went for Clinton by a large margin. She received 182,448 votes (82.64%) resulting in 32 pledged and 3 unpledged delegates in her column. Sanders received 36,349 votes (16.46%) to win only 4 pledged and 1 unpledged delegates.
But Sanders surprised everyone by scoring a narrow win in Michigan. His victory may have been attributable in part to a good performance at the seventh presidential debate held on March 6th at the The Whiting at the Flint Cultural Center. Flint, Michigan was chosen as the debate sight because of the Flint water crisis. The debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper and it aired on CNN. Participants were Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. At the end of the debate, Cooper announced a labor union fund had committed $25 million in low-interest loans towards repairing the water system. The next day, on March 7, 2016, a Town Hall event, was held as the eighth democratic forum. It started at 6:00 p.m. E.S.T., at the Gem Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, and was aired by the Fox News Channel. The forum was moderated by Bret Baier.
Going into the vote, most polls showed Clinton with polling numbers of between 55 and 65%. But when the ballots were counted, Sanders received 593,563 votes (49.75%) to win 67 pledged delegates. In an anomaly, Clinton finished second with 575,512 votes (48.23%) and while she received 63 pledged delegates, she also won an additional 10 unpledged delegates, meaning that she finished second, but actually ended up with potentially more delegates than Sanders.
On March 12, Clinton also won 9 of the 11 delegates allocated to the Northern Marianas in a closed caucus, receiving 102 votes (54.0%) to 65 (34.4%) for Sanders. Four of Clinton's nine delegates were pledged, the other five were unpledged. Both of Sanders' two delegates were pledged.
The candidates next set their sights on what was called the second "Super Tuesday" - March 15th, when primaries would be held in the large swing states of Florida and Ohio, as well as in Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina. Many delegates were at stake and the contest was seen as a last stand for Rubio and Kasich.