Super Tuesday
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What is Super Tuesday?
Super Tuesday is a significant event in United States presidential elections, occurring on a Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year. On this day, many states hold their presidential primary elections. Because of the high number of delegates that a candidate can win, Super Tuesday results often establish a frontrunner for each party's nomination. Experts consider Super Tuesday results strong indicators of likely presidential nominees, given the diverse voting populations involved. In 2024, Super Tuesday was held on March 5, with 17 states and territories participating in primaries or caucuses.
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Why is Super Tuesday important in American politics?
Super Tuesday is important in U.S. politics because a large number of presidential convention delegates can be won by a single candidate. The results often solidify the frontrunner for each party's presidential nomination, and are viewed as strong indicators of likely U.S. presidential nominees, because of the participation of large and diverse voting populations. Depending on the states holding primary elections, one-third or more of all delegates to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions can be won on Super Tuesday.
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Which states participate in Super Tuesday?
Super Tuesday is a day in February or March when several states hold presidential primary elections. The states participating in Super Tuesday vary because each state independently decides when to hold primary elections. In 2024, Super Tuesday was held on March 5, with 14 states holding primary elections. On March 5, 2024, voters in 17 states and territories voted in primaries or caucuses. Because a large number of presidential convention delegates can be won on Super Tuesday, the results often solidify the frontrunner for each party's presidential nomination.
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How does Super Tuesday affect presidential primaries?
Super Tuesday is a day in February or March during a U.S. presidential election year when several states hold primary elections. Because a large number of presidential convention delegates can be won on Super Tuesday, the results often solidify the frontrunner for each party's presidential nomination. Experts view Super Tuesday results as strong indicators of likely U.S. presidential nominees, due to the participation of large and diverse voting populations. One-third or more of all delegates to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions can be won through votes cast on Super Tuesday.
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How are delegates awarded on Super Tuesday?
Super Tuesday is a day in February or March when several states hold primary elections. The states that participate vary because each state independently decides how and when they will hold primary elections.
The large number of presidential convention delegates that a candidate can win on Super Tuesday often solidifies the frontrunner for each party's presidential nomination. Depending on how many states participate, one-third or more of all delegates to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions can be won on Super Tuesday.
Rules for selecting delegates are determined by the political parties and vary by state. Delegates can be selected on a winner-take-all basis, as in many Republican Party state primaries, or by proportional representation, as in the Democratic Party primaries.
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How has Super Tuesday changed presidential elections over time?
Super Tuesday, a primary election day in February or March, can solidify a frontrunner for each party's presidential nomination because of the high number of delegates that candidates can win.
Since 1984, there has been a movement to solidify Super Tuesday and front-load state primaries. In 1988, a "Southern Super Tuesday" aimed to promote a centrist Democratic candidate, but the strategy backfired. Clear dominance in Super Tuesday primaries has not always resulted in victories in presidential elections.
Some critics argue that Super Tuesday unfairly advances the campaigns of moderates or centrists.
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Super Tuesday, in the United States, a Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year on which several states hold presidential primary elections. The specific states that participate in Super Tuesday have varied, because every U.S. state independently determines how and when it will hold primary elections.
Because of the large number of presidential-convention delegates that could be won by a single Democratic or Republican presidential candidate on Super Tuesday, the results of Super Tuesday elections often solidify the frontrunner for each party’s presidential nomination. Election and polling experts generally view the electoral results of Super Tuesday as strong indicators of the likely U.S. presidential nominees, owing to the usual participation of large and fairly diverse voting populations. Depending on how many and which states conduct presidential primary elections on Super Tuesday, one-third or more of all delegates to either or both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention can be won through votes cast on Super Tuesday.
History of Super Tuesday
Presidential elections in the United States have been held on Tuesdays—specifically, the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in a presidential election year—since the mid-19th century, when the U.S. Congress passed a law designed to make voting in presidential elections as convenient as possible for religiously observant citizens and farmers. Among the first primary election days to be designated a “super Tuesday” in certain national publications (including The New York Times) was May 25, 1976, when presidential primaries were held in six states. The terms “super-Tuesday” and “Super Tuesday” subsequently became increasingly common among journalists and political commentators.
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In 1980 the phrase “Super Tuesday” was widely used to refer to primaries held in three states—Alabama, Florida, and Georgia—on March 11. Campaign strategists for Democratic Pres. Jimmy Carter reportedly arranged the movement of the three Southern state primaries, which Carter was expected to win, to the Tuesday after the New Hampshire Democratic primary, which strategists feared Carter might lose, thus effectively guaranteeing a rebound effect for Carter’s campaign. (In fact, Carter won the New Hampshire primary and swept the ensuing Southern primaries but lost the general presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan [1911–2004].)
By 1984 a movement to solidify Super Tuesday and to start front-loading state primaries was underway. Nine states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Washington—held presidential primaries on March 13, 1984, in which former vice president Walter Mondale (1928–2021) and Sen. Gary Hart battled to become the Democratic presidential nominee, who would then challenge incumbent Pres. Reagan in the general election.
The 1988 cluster of state presidential primaries is often referred to as Southern Super Tuesday, as 21 mostly Southern states held primaries or caucuses on March 8. Democratic leaders in Southern states had hoped that an oversized Super Tuesday strategy would advance a centrist Democratic candidate toward the party’s presidential nomination. However, the strategy backfired, as the moderate Sen. Al Gore split the Super Tuesday vote with Rev. Jesse Jackson, which enabled Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis to take the delegate lead and eventually clinch the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. It was not until March 11, 1992, that a Southern Democratic presidential candidate, Bill Clinton, was able to leverage Super Tuesday wins into a Democratic presidential nomination.
It should be noted that clear dominance in Super Tuesday primaries has not always resulted in victories in presidential elections. For example, Republican Sen. Bob Dole became the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in the Super Tuesday contest of 1996, and Democratic Sen. John Kerry swept nine of ten Super Tuesday Democratic primaries in 2004, but neither candidate went on to win the general U.S. presidential election.
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In 2008 24 states shifted their presidential primaries to the first Tuesday in February, putting an unprecedented 40 percent of potential Democratic and Republican convention delegates into play on the same day. The Super Tuesday resulted in a deadlocked race for the Democratic presidential nomination between Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and a decisive victory for Arizona Sen. John McCain over Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination.
By the time Mitt Romney sought the Republican nomination again in 2012, Super Tuesday primaries had been whittled down to 10 states. In 2016 Hillary Clinton surprised political experts with a definitive win over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in a March 1 Super Tuesday contest that included 12 state primaries. Super Tuesday in 2020 took place on March 3 and is widely credited – along with an earlier victory in the South Carolina primary – with securing the Democratic nomination for former Vice Pres. Joe Biden. Biden scored decisive wins in nine out of 14 state primary elections.
For the 2024 presidential election, Super Tuesday will be held on March 5 when voters in 17 states and territories will vote in primaries or caucuses.
Criticisms of Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday election contests are often criticized as vehicles for front-loading primaries in an effort to condense the election cycle and create unreasonable demands on presidential candidates to appeal to a wide swathe of the American electorate. Critics have argued that the outsized delegate haul from such geographically and demographically diverse populations of American voters not only unfairly advances the campaigns of moderates or centrists but also results in media neglect of other candidates.