Donald Trump has won nine states so far in a strong Super Tuesday showing as he hopes for a massive sweep of victories that will knock rival Nikki Haley out of the race.
Contests were called for Trump in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Maine, Alabama, Massachusetts, Arkansas, and Texas.
Haley had hopes dashed early in the night when Virginia was called for the former president. The state – along with Massachusetts and Vermont – was seen as one of her best bets for a win. Her staff hoped for a victory similar to when she won Washington D.C., where Democratic crossover votes, moderate GOP voters and independents rallied to her side.
Three other states have seen polls closed – Vermont, Colorado and Minnesota – but results have not been called yet. In all, 15 states hold nominating contests on Tuesday in the biggest primary voting day of the year. Millions of voters are casting their ballots and hundreds of delegates are at stake – the biggest haul for any candidate thus far.
Guests at Mar-a-Lago watch election results as they wait for Donald Trump to speak
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s contests, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are expected to move much closer to their party’s respective nominations.
Biden is racking up wins on the Democratic side as polls close across the nation. He faces only token opposition for his party’s presidential nomination.
Trump is looking to sweep the 15 states holding Republican primaries on Tuesday. He still faces primary opposition from Haley but a series of victories will make it nearly mathmatically impossible for her to catch the former president.
Tuesday’s contests will award more than one-third of Republican delegates – and more than 70% of the number needed to secure the nomination.
Haley pledged stay in the race until the Super Tuesday contests but has not made any promises beyond that, and her campaign has not scheduled any public events on Tuesday or beyond.
She is at her home in South Carolina and not scheduled to make public remarks. Trump is expected to address supporters later Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago.
Biden will be updated on election results throughout the night by his staff, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Both the Biden and Trump camps have been preparing for a rematch even though the earliest either can become his party´s presumptive nominee is March 12 for Trump and March 19 for Biden.
But, after Tuesday, the general election battle will be effectively underway. Both men are ready.
‘We have to beat Biden – he is the worst president in history,’ Trump said Tuesday on Fox & Friends.
‘If we lose this election, you´re going to be back with Donald Trump,’ Biden said on the DeDe in the Morning radio show in North Carolina. ‘The way he talks about, the way he acted, the way he has dealt with the African American community, I think, has been shameful.’
Donald Trump (left) is hoping for a big victory sweep on Super Tuesday that will knock Nikki Haley (right) out of the contest
A voter enters a polling place to cast their ballot in Mountain Brook, Alabama
Voters, however, do not seem enthusiastic about repeating the 2020 election, which Biden won and Trump falsely claimed victory. Polls show a majority of voters wanted an option other than Biden or Trump.
So now each campaign will have to focus on rallying their base and persuading independent voters to come to the polls in November.
And the candidates will hit the trail to make their case to the American people.
On Saturday, Biden and Trump will hold separate campaign events in Georgia, a critical battleground state. They are not expected to interact.
Biden became the first Democratic since Bill Clinton to win Georgia in 2020. Trump was convinced he had won it and now faces federal and state charges on his attempts to overturn results there.
