President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump led the Super Tuesday primary contests from coast to coast, each winning hundreds of delegates and edging closer to clinching their respective parties’ nominations.
Biden walked away from the night with at least 1,424 delegates, slightly more than 72% of the total he needed to secure the Democratic nomination.
Trump ended the day with a minimum of 946 delegates, or 78% of the 1,215 total he needed to formally become the Republican party’s presumptive nominee.
But amid their successful battles in states like California, Maine and Arkansas, both men lost unexpected contests that highlighted potential obstacles to uniting their party’s most loyal voters behind them. them.
Biden lost American Samoa’s Democratic caucus to political newcomer Jason Palmer, a businessman who had never set foot in the South Pacific islands that make up the US territory. Only 91 total votes were cast in the caucus, and Palmer won 50 of them. Biden walked away with 41.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also scored a landslide victory over Trump in Vermont’s Republican primary, winning 50% of the vote, while Trump only got 45%.
“Today, in state after state, there remains a large bloc of primary Republican voters who express deep concerns about Donald Trump,” Haley’s campaign said in a statement late Tuesday.
“That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing the concerns of those voters will make the Republican Party and America better.”
Haley’s next move will likely consume coverage of the Republican contest for days to come. There is no longer a realistic path for Haley to the nomination via the math delegate. But his claim that many Republican voters are unwilling to follow Trump was borne out by Tuesday’s results.
Live: NBC News Super Tuesday 2024 Primary Election Results
Below are NBC’s projections for the presidential primary and caucus winners, starting at 1:00 am ET Wednesday.
- Alabama: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- American Samoa: Jason Palmer wins the Democratic caucus
- Arkansas: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- California: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- Colorado: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- Maine: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- Massachusetts: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- Minnesota: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- North Carolina: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- Oklahoma: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- Tennessee: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- Texas: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- Vermont: Haley wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic primary
- Virginia: Trump wins GOP contest, Biden wins Democratic race
- Utah: Biden wins the Democratic primary
In addition to the presidential race, several down-ballot contests on Tuesday were closely watched.
None other than the California Senate primary, where Democratic Rep. won. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey are the two frontrunners in a race to fill the seat vacated by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
California is a deep blue state, so Tuesday’s results are especially promising for Schiff. In November, the Trump antagonist will be the only Democrat on the ballot in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican to the US Senate since the 1960’s.
