Super Tuesday 2024 updates: Millions of Americans vote in primary contests
These were the updates for March 5, 2024, as US voters went to the polls to cast ballots in the Super Tuesday races.
This live page has now been closed. Please follow along as Al Jazeera covers the Super Tuesday results here.
This live page has now been closed. Please follow along as Al Jazeera covers the Super Tuesday results here.
- Millions of people are casting their ballots across 15 US states and one territory on Super Tuesday, a high point in the United States primary calendar when the most states vote on a single day.
- The fate of Nikki Haley’s campaign hangs in the balance. The former United Nations ambassador has hinged her long-shot bid for the Republican nomination on her Super Tuesday results.
- Former President Donald Trump remains the frontrunner in the GOP race, coming off dominant performances in early-voting states like Iowa, Michigan and South Carolina.
- Incumbent President Joe Biden is also expected to cruise to victory in the Democratic primaries, though activists in Super Tuesday states like Minnesota are organising a protest vote over his support of Israel.
Our live page is soon coming to a close
Our live coverage for the lead-up to the Super Tuesday primaries is soon coming to an end. But we will continue sharing the results in a new live page, here.
Here is a recap of the day’s main developments.
- Biden has already notched a victory in Iowa’s mail-in Democratic primary, according to Associated Press projections.
- The results of Tuesday’s vote are widely expected to solidify both Trump and Biden as their respective party’s nominees for the general election in November.
- Super Tuesday could also mean the end of former UN Ambassador Haley’s long-shot bid to challenge Trump from the Republican nod.
- On the Democratic side, Biden faces a protest vote campaign in states like Minnesota, where Democrats seek to show their displeasure with the incumbent by voting “uncommitted”.
Thank you for joining us
This live page is now closed. Please join us here for updates as the results from Super Tuesday roll in.
And check out some of our previous Super Tuesday coverage, on the Senate primary race in California and the down-ballot contests in Texas, where Trump-endorsed hopefuls are facing off with more establishment Republican candidates.
Minnesota voters explain ‘uncommitted’ vote
For Minnesota voter Charlie Bartlett, picking the “uncommitted” option in the state’s Democratic primary is an opportunity to “hold our own side accountable, to really make them listen to what the people want”.
The 27-year-old was one of several Minnesota voters who told the Reuters news agency they would be joining a protest vote against Biden, opting for “uncommitted” instead of supporting the incumbent.
At issue is Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Walter Fromm, 26, said he is trying to rally fellow members of the state’s Jewish community to choose “uncommitted”.
“I’ve reached out to my entire Jewish community here in the Twin Cities,” he told Reuters. “We need a permanent ceasefire now. We need aid and restoration and support for 1.9 million starving Palestinians in Gaza.”
Asma Nizami, an organiser of Vote Uncommitted in Minnesota, said she believes the protest campaign has already prompted a change in tone from the Biden administration. She pointed to a speech on Sunday from Vice President Kamala Harris, voicing support for a temporary ceasefire.
“I don’t think the vice president would have made such a sweeping statement if Super Tuesday wasn’t happening, and we have been seeing the same thing with President Biden,” she said.
It’s Super Tuesday, where voters in more than a dozen US states cast ballots in the presidential primary.
In Minnesota, the ‘Abandon Biden’ campaign is urging voters everywhere to tick ‘uncommitted’ as a protest against President Biden’s response to Israel's war on Gaza ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/h6yEep2pLF
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 5, 2024
Biden wins Iowa Democratic primary
The Associated Press has projected that Biden, the incumbent president, has won the state of Iowa. It is Biden’s first Super Tuesday win of the night.
Iowa has traditionally been an early voting state, but after delays in the vote count in the 2020 primary elections – and a reshuffle in the Democratic Party’s voting calendar – the state instead opted for a mail-in primary this year.
Republicans had previously held their Iowa caucus on January 15, keeping the state as the first in its primary lineup. Trump won that race with 51 percent of the votes.
Photos: Americans vote on Super Tuesday
US Muslim leader says he voted ‘against Biden’
Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), says he voted for Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson in the Virginia primaries because she has called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
CAIR, as a group, does not endorse candidates but it has been critical of Biden over his unconditional support for Israel.
A vote against Biden.
I voted today for Marianne Williamson in the Virginia presidential primary. She called for a ceasefire and for ending the military aid to Israel.#SuperTuesday #uncommitted #NoBiden #Cease_fire_In_Gaza_Now pic.twitter.com/o7oGu3KjpG— Nihad Awad (@NihadAwad) March 5, 2024
In North Carolina, an influential governor’s race takes shape
One of the most closely watched races in the US South this Super Tuesday is the fight for the governor’s mansion in North Carolina.
The outgoing governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, made history in the state when he defeated the Republican incumbent in 2016. But now, he has reached his term limit – setting up a tight race for North Carolina’s executive branch.
Either party could come out on top: After all, North Carolina has skewed Republican in its votes for the Senate and the presidency, but the governor’s mansion has frequently fallen into Democrat hands.
This Super Tuesday will decide which Democrat and which Republican will receive their party nod for the general elections. On the Republican side, Trump-endorsed candidate Mark Robinson is expected to emerge as the victor, and on the Democrat side, Josh Stein has taken a healthy lead.
The face-off is expected to be a microcosm of the political divides that define the country.
Robinson, currently the lieutenant governor, had a meteoric political rise after his 2018 speech in favour of gun rights went viral. He has since been accused of making anti-Semitic, sexist and Islamophobia comments.
Meanwhile, Stein is considered a rising star in the Democratic party. He currently serves as the attorney general of the state, championing reproductive rights and the fight for accountability in the opioid epidemic.
Rights advocates have more sway with Biden than Trump: Democratic strategist
Arshad Hasan acknowledges that US presidents historically have not prioritised human rights abroad but he says rights defenders are “often in the room with Biden and nowhere near the building with Trump”.
“Victories that we do manage to get every now and then generally happen in places and among people you might not hear the names of at the State Department or USAID,” Hasan told Al Jazeera.
Palestinian-American activist gives Biden F grade on human rights
Zeina Ashrawi Hutchison, an advocate with the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), says the US president has failed to fulfil his campaign promises of centring human rights in US foreign policy.
“The biggest example is the genocide happening in Gaza right now and the rhetoric and the talking points that he keeps using without actually doing any action – dropping a few parcels of food on a population that is being starved and bombed by US weapons,” Ashrawi Hutchison told Al Jazeera.
Texas congressional candidate calls for open borders, ceasefire in Gaza
Border issues have split Democrats in recent months, with some pursuing tighter asylum restrictions and others warning of the consequences for human rights.
But one Texas Democrat believes immigration can be a unifying issue for the party, come the general elections.
“My dad came to this country with $5 in his pocket in 1979,” Pervez Agwan, who is running to represent the Democratic-leaning Houston area, told Al Jazeera.
“This country is beautiful because it’s made up by immigrants,” he said. “The border crisis only exists because there are no pathways or almost no immediate pathways to citizenship anymore for anybody that arrives.”
Agwan, who currently trails behind his more centrist primary opponent, would be the first Muslim American to represent a congressional district in Texas if elected.
In his interview with Al Jazeera, he pledged to take a stand against Israel’s war on Gaza if he manages to win the House seat: “If elected, I would be the first to put bills on the floor to sanction [the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu[‘s] regime.”
Minnesota’s Keith Ellison says Democrats ‘must hear’ voters angry over Gaza
The Midwestern state’s attorney general says Democrats voting “uncommitted” to protest Biden’s unconditional support for Israel are using a “sacred” democratic tool to register their discontent.
“We must hear them and call for a permanent ceasefire and an immediate surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Ellison, who served as the first Muslim Congress member in US history, wrote in a social media post.
Ellison had faced criticism from his progressive allies for previously declaring that he voted early for Biden.
(1) Today is Super Tuesday and Democrats will be voting in primaries across the country. People voting “uncommitted” are registering their outrage, hurt, and compassion for Palestinians suffering and dying in Gaza.
— Keith Ellison (@keithellison) March 5, 2024
After Supreme Court ruling, voters cast ballots in redrawn Alabama district
US elections have long been plagued by the practice of gerrymandering, where policymakers draw electoral districts to favour one party.
That came to a head in Alabama last year, when the US Supreme Court rejected a map drawn by the Alabama legislature that they said again sought to dilute the power of Black voters.
That constituted a violation of the Voting Rights Act, which seeks to protect minority voting rights, the top US court ruled. The decision was largely a surprise – and hailed as a major win for the voting rights advocates.
As a result, Alabama created the second district in the state where Black voters make up a sizeable portion of the electorate. It is expected to swing Democratic, with 11 candidates vying to be the party’s champion in the general election.
The redrawn map has also forced two current Republican congressmen, Jerry Carl and Barry Moore, to face off in a primary to represent the neighbouring district.
WATCH: US vote puts spotlight on migration and border crisis
North Carolina groups urge residents to ‘vote no preference, y’all’
Local organisers are trying to send a message to Biden over his support for Israel during its war in Gaza.
The push to get voters to select the “no preference” option on their Democratic primary ballots has been supported by the Abandon Biden campaign, which launched in Minnesota and calls on voters to ditch Biden in the general election over his Gaza war stance.
North Carolina has a sizeable Muslim population, composed primarily of Pakistani, Somali and Bangladeshi residents.
Several chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist organisation in the country, have promoted the “no preference” campaign, as well.
Tomorrow, don't forget to vote NO PREFERENCE in the NC Democratic Primary! We have joined with DSA chapters and other pro-Palestinian organizations across NC to call on voters to use their vote to protest Biden's enabling of the genocide in Gaza. #nopreferenceyall #nopreferencenc pic.twitter.com/gk9Usjtmbq
— Charlotte Metro DSA 🐝🌹 (@cltdsa) March 4, 2024
With US focused on Super Tuesday, Biden renews call for Ramadan truce in Gaza
As millions of Americans – including Democrats outraged by Biden’s support for Israel – vote in the primaries, the US president has stressed the need to suspend the fighting in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“There’s got to be a ceasefire – because If we get into a circumstance where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem can be very, very dangerous,” Biden told reporters.
The Biden administration has been using “ceasefire” to describe its call for a temporary pause in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip. But Washington remains opposed to ending the war.
The US president put the onus on Hamas to accept a truce deal, saying that Israel has been “cooperating” with the “rational” offer on the table.
Biden added that he is “working hard” with Israel to get more aid into Gaza but stopped short of criticising the US ally over its blockade of the Palestinian territory.
For the latest on the war, follow our Gaza live coverage here.
Biden is ‘too old’ to be in office: Trump voter
Mahlon Tucker, a 70-year-old retiree, says Trump made the economy better and kept prices under control during his term.
“A little common sense would tell you that Biden is ruining the country by being in office. He’s too old to be in office. He can’t run the country,” Tucker told Reuters in Clayton, North Carolina.
US Senator Sinema will not seek re-election, transforming closely watched Arizona race
Arizona is not voting on Super Tuesday, but US Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s announcement will transform the Senate contest in the state in November.
Sinema is a former Democrat who broke from the party last year to become an independent.
Her decision to forgo re-election will alleviate some fears among Democrats, who were concerned that if Sinema ran against a Republican and a Democrat in a three-way race, she would almost certainly siphon votes from her former party.
Sinema has ruffled feathers since taking office, often blocking progressive initiatives to side with big business interests.
Democrats – and independents who caucus with them – currently hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate, where they hold 50 seats in the 100-member chamber.
A message for Arizonans from Senator Kyrsten Sinema pic.twitter.com/1XWFSWgGdh
— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) March 5, 2024
Biden unlikely to repair political fallout of Gaza war stance
Joe Biden has faced public outrage over his unwavering support for Israel amid the Gaza war, and more than 13 percent of voters in Michigan voted “uncommitted” in protest during the state’s Democratic primary last week.
Advocates in several other US states – including Minnesota, Colorado and North Carolina – are pursuing similar efforts.
But despite a shift in tone from the administration in recent days – and airdrops of food to Gaza – Biden is unlikely to win back many voters, said Steve Clemons, a political analyst and host of Al Jazeera’s The Bottom Line.
“I think to a lot of people, 38,000 airdropped meals does not compare with the two million people in need,” he said.
“Look at the impotence of the American response vis-a-vis Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and getting him to change course, or the inability of the president of the United States to get more aid inside Gaza,” Clemons continued.
“If you look at the whole equation, it looks pretty pathetic to many Americans.”
If you’re just joining us
It’s 4pm (21:00 GMT) on the US East Coast. Here’s what is happening on Super Tuesday:
- Millions of Americans across 15 states and one territory are voting in presidential primaries as well as congressional and local races.
- Former President Donald Trump is expected to further cement his status as the Republican frontrunner, but his final primary opponent, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, says she is “not ready to get out” of the race yet.
- Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, a Trump ally, says the primaries are “over” and the ex-president is already “setting his sights” on November’s general election.
- President Joe Biden is not facing any serious challenge for the Democratic nomination, but he is hoping for strong Super Tuesday results amid protest campaigns over his support for Israel and concerns over his age.
‘Pocketbook issues’ dominating US election race so far
Al Jazeera’s John Hendren, reporting from Raleigh, North Carolina, says the economy has been driving the US presidential election race so far – “and that’s not unusual”.
The economy has “improved dramatically” under Biden, said Hendren, who noted that inflation and unemployment rates have fallen.
“But there’s a lag time between when the economy improves and when voters seem to agree that it’s improved,” he said.
“And voters are still saying in polls that they don’t like the look of the economy, that they prefer the way Donald Trump had managed the economy during his rein. So that is really what’s playing out here.
“The good news for Joe Biden is that he’s got a little more time before the election [and] there may be some changed perceptions.”
Trump voter says he would not back Haley if she’s the GOP nominee
William Sabatini, a 38-year-old gunsmith, says in the unlikely scenario that Haley wins the Republican nomination, he would vote for third party candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr.
“Haley is just a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She’s not who she claims to be. She’s not what the media is portraying her to be,” he told the Reuters news agency outside a polling location in Nashville, Tennessee.
Sabatini said despite the negative media attention that Trump receives, the former president “does truly care” about the country.
Taylor Swift urges fans to vote on Super Tuesday
The US pop star did not endorse any candidates, but she called on her social media followers – including in her home state of Tennessee – to participate in the primaries.
“I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power,” the TIME Person of the Year wrote in an Instagram post. “If you haven’t already, make a plan to vote today.”
Dissatisfaction with major political parties a growing trend: Professor
Alex Keena, an associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, tells Al Jazeera that over the last decades, more and more Americans have expressed frustration with both the Republican and Democratic parties.
“It has everything to do with our institutions. The institutions result in a two-party system,” Keena said. “And it doesn’t help that money really determines who’s going to be able to run before any votes are cast in any primary elections.”
A recent poll showed that only 35 percent of Virginians had a favourable impression of Biden, who is seeking re-election as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.
The same poll found that the same percentage of people held a favourable view of Trump, the GOP frontrunner.
Trump attacking US democracy, analyst says
Political strategist Jotaka Eaddy has accused Trump of seeking power and control at the expense of democratic norms in the US.
“Whether it’s on reproductive freedom, educational freedom, whether it is on our freedom to access the ballot box, over and over and over again, we’re seeing all of these attacks on the very fundamentals of what is at the heart of America, which is our democracy,” Eaddy told Al Jazeera.