Here’s where the Democratic Primary stands after Super Tuesday
The race to nominate the next Democratic Presidential candidate continued yesterday in 14 states and one territory. As of March 4th, 17 states have voted and a third of the delegates have been allocated. The primary will wrap up in June followed by the nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in July.
Pledged Delegate Count
Below, see the winner of pledged delegates (so far) by state.
Biden has pulled away with the most state wins, but since delegates are awarded proportionally, Sanders, Warren, Bloomberg, and Gabbard have all picked up delegates. We’ve tracked the total number of pledged delegates awarded by state. Biden leads with 453 pledged delegates, followed by Sanders with 382.
Not quite one-person, one-vote
The process isn’t as straight forward as “one-person, one-vote.” Each state is assigned delegates based on its electoral college share and past Democratic Presidential vote. These delegates then “pledge” to vote for a nominee at the convention in Milwaukee later this year. In most primary contests, the popular vote share determines the number of delegates each candidate will then receive at the convention. A candidate must receive at least a 15% share in a state’s election results to receive a delegate. At the convention, the candidates then pledge to vote for their nominee. A total of 3,979 delegates will be at the convention, so a candidate that receives a majority, 1,991, will be nominated. If no candidate receives a majority, the convention can be contested and the delegates can change their pledge to a different candidate.
What’s a superdelegate?
In addition to pledged delegates, the process includes “super delegates” that are appointed by party officials in each state. Unlike previous conventions, they will not be allowed to cast decisive votes for the nomination. In other words, they cannot vote on the first ballot for nomination. However, if there is a second ballot, they can cast votes for whichever candidate they want. Essentially, if there is a contested convention, they can cast decisive votes.
On the Cicero team, we keep close track of elections to determine the eventual winner. In addition to the Presidential race in the United States, we’re keeping our eye on thousands of other contests at the national, state, and local levels this year. You can view results live in our database before newly elected officials have taken office.
