(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump continued to dominate Republication presidential primaries on Super Tuesday, winning at least 10 states as votes continued to be counted.
Trump added Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia to the win column shortly after polls closed in the 10 states. Vermont remained too close to call, with Alaska, California and Utah vote counts still pending.
Winner of all early state primaries and caucuses by double digits heading into Super Tuesday, Trump held massive double digit leads in the 10 called Super Tuesday states over Nikki Haley, his lone remaining challenger for the GOP nomination. Fifteen states vote in Republican primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday, with polls still open in the remaining western states.
Haley’s only win so far this primary season was Sunday in Washington, D.C., where she secured 19 Republican delegates, bringing her total to date to 43. With 247 delegates, Trump held a commanding lead at the day’s outset that will only grow significantly after all Super Tuesday votes are counted.
A candidate needs 1,215 delegates to win the Republican nomination. Trump can sweep Super Tuesday states – 854 of the 2,429 delegates are on the line, though not every state is winner take all – and still not clinch the nomination. He needs 971 more.
If he wins about 90% of the delegates through next Tuesday, when Republican primaries in Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Washington state are held, he would become the nominee.
Prior to Super Tuesday, Trump also won primaries and/or caucuses in Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and South Dakota.
Trump faces 91 felony charges in four separate indictments. Those are linked to challenging election results in 2020 in Georgia; the Jan. 6, 2021, violent protests at the U.S. Capitol; his handling of classified documents; and hush money paid to a porn actress. Because of the possibility of conviction ahead of the Nov. 5 general election, Haley finishing second in delegate counts could be important.
Barring a conviction, Trump, 77, seems the likely nominee to face off against Biden in a rematch of the 2020 race.
Biden, 81, is also on the ballot in 14 Super Tuesday states, and his nomination seems secure. Major media outlets quickly called Super Tuesday states Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Vermont for the president.
Biden has faced tough questions about his memory loss and mental capacity. He would be 86 at the end of a second term. U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., has been the only challenger to stay in the race and is on some but not all ballots.
There’s been a recent push, with modest at best results, centered on the war between Israel and Hamas for Democrats to choose options such as “uncommitted” or “no preference.”
Biden, like Trump, cannot clinch his party’s nomination Tuesday, but holds a hefty lead. Democrats have 1,420 delegates at stake, about one-third of the 3,934 total. It takes 1,968 to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. Biden entered Tuesday with 206.
(This is a developing story. Check back for updates.)
