[ot-caption title=”Pine Crest students keep up with the Horse Race to the White House. (via Peyton Elias, sophomore)”]

Super Tuesday, the day when the largest number of primary elections are held and when the largest number of delegates are chosen, took place on March 1st, 2016. Voters from 12 states (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia) and 1 territory (American Samoa) evaluated potential presidential candidates from the Republican and Democratic Party.

For the G.O.P., Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, and Ben Carson fought head-to-head against one another to win the most delegates. Donald Trump, with his anti-establishment campaign, came out on top with seven wins across the nation including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Massachusetts and Vermont, further fracturing the Republican Party. After winning 233 delegates that day, Trump’s delegate count so far totals 315, putting him 110 delegates ahead of his nearest competitor, Ted Cruz, who won three states (Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska), and 209 delegates in front of Marco Rubio, who won one state (Minnesota). According to CNN, Trump’s astounding victory dismisses the idea that he is a “short-lived phenomenon.” Instead, “Trump’s candidacy has proven shockingly durable, and his supporters exceptionally durable.” Trump says that Super Tuesday, “has been an amazing night” and he vows to be a unifier and go after Hillary Clinton in the general election.

Like Trump, Hillary Clinton also came out victorious against her opponent, Bernie Sanders, for the Democratic Party. She won seven states including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Massachusetts. Sanders won his own state, Vermont, and also picked up Colorado, Minnesota and Oklahoma. Hillary Clinton, after her huge success, said, “What a Super Tuesday.” Thanking her supporters, she said, “[her supporters] voted to break down barriers so that we can all rise together,” for when “America prospers we all prosper. America is strong when we’re all strong.” According to a poll done by CNN, after Super Tuesday, there is a 97 percent chance that Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee.

Now that Super Tuesday is over, voters look forward to participating in caucuses taking place throughout March.

Sources: USA Today, CNN, Economist, NBC, The Guardian