He won in 10 of the 14 member states in which primary elections were held on Tuesday (March 3rd), including the populous states of Texas and Virginia, and overwhelmingly in the southern states. The most important area code in the state of California won the left senator Bernie Sanders. He had wooed California hard. He also clearly won in his home state of Vermont.
The former mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar who both gave up the race for Democrats’ candidacy after their poor performance in South Carolina, now support Joe Biden . Both appeared on Monday evening (local time) with the former vice president at an election campaign appearance in Dallas. Biden provides this for the “Super Tuesday” tailwind.
Former Vice President Joe Biden won nearly half of the votes in South Carolina. His main rival, Bernie Sanders, came to just under 20 percent. All other applicants remained below 15 percent and were thus left empty-handed in the distribution of delegates for the national party convention. Because of his strong backing among African-Americans, an important Democratic electorate, Biden had strongly focused his re-election campaign on doing well in South Carolina.
In the area code in Nevada (22nd February) the left senator Bernie Sanders had won big. He thus took the lead not only in terms of the number of votes but also among the delegates who were decisive for the nomination for the party convention. Sanders won 24 of the 36 delegate votes, Joe Biden got nine, Pete Buttigieg three
Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg were also on par with the area code in New Hampshire (February 11). Both won nine of the 24 delegate votes. Amy Klobuchar got six votes.
At the first area code in Iowa (February 3), Pete Buttigieg was the winner. He won 14 of the 41 votes in the state. Bernie Sanders followed at twelve, Elizabeth Warren at eight, Joe Biden at six and Amy Klobuchar at one voice.
the essentials in brief
In the US two-party system, only two people have a chance of moving into the White House in the presidential election. The choice for voters is therefore very limited. The party base in the primaries decides who will become the official Republican or Democratic candidate – a method that European parties have only occasionally adopted in recent years.
The primaries procedure differs between parties and from one Member State to another. For the applicants, it is not a question of getting as many votes as possible, but as many delegates as possible for the national party conference at which the candidate is officially nominated. The first primaries, which are important because of their symbolic effect, and those in the member states with high numbers of delegates such as California or Texas, are therefore particularly competitive. The primaries traditionally begin with the Iowa caucuses, which took place on February 3. A highlight is the “Super Tuesday” on March 3, when elections are held in over a dozen member states and in one fell swoop 34 percent of all delegates are designated for the national party congress. Here you will find a detailed calendar with all the data and facts.
While former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton entered the Democrats as a favorite in 2016 and the prospect promised greater suspense to the Republicans, the situation is reversed this year. No promising candidate challenges Donald Trump as the incumbent. The Republicans, therefore, do not hold any primaries in several member states.
The area codes in detail
With the primaries, the two major parties in the United States determine their respective candidates for the November presidential election. In every member state, in the District of Columbia and the American outskirts, they let the base choose. In doing so, delegates are distributed who have to commit to a specific presidential candidate. These delegates, in turn, nominate the official candidate at the national party conventions in the summer. As a rule, delegates are obliged to vote for “their” candidate at the party convention, with exceptions.
A total of 2552 delegates took part in the Republicans, 4750 in the Democrats, of whom 3979 were fully entitled to vote in the free skating of the presidential candidate. If an applicant achieves the absolute majority of these delegates in the course of the primaries, he will be nominated as an official candidate. This process aims to demonstrate unity to the television audience with the party convention and to celebrate the candidates to be selected. The event is, therefore, an important element in the “actual” election campaign for the White House. The hard party-internal conflict should take place beforehand and not overshadow this “coronation ceremony”.
