Biden, Trump Win Big on Super Tuesday

UPDATE: This article was updated at 3:44 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6, to reflect more current information.

Super Tuesday in Arkansas ended as was predicted as both Donald Trump and Joe Biden won their respective parties’ primaries by a landslide of votes. The Natural State followed suit of nearly every other on Tuesday night, with the great majority of ballots being cast exclusively for these two frontrunners.

Trump and Biden faced little to no threat in securing their respective party’s nomination for nearly every one of the 15 states. Nikki Haley, Trump’s strongest competition in the Republican Primaries, managed to win the state of Vermont around 9:40 p.m. CST – the only outlier of the entire night. On Wednesday morning (March 6), Haley announced that she was suspending her campaign for the GOP nomination, leaving Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the ’24 nomination, The Associated Press reported.

Current President Joe Biden’s Primary Election proved to be particularly inevitable as he secured state after state with 85% to 95% of votes. In Arkansas’ case, Donald Trump won the Republican Primary Election with nearly 75% of the votes, while Biden won the Democratic Primary with over 90%. With such a one-sided outcome to 2024’s Super Tuesday, Americans likely now look ahead to a heated rematch that will decide the next President of the United States.

Super Tuesday, an electoral phenomenon unique to American politics, emerges as a pivotal moment in the presidential primary race, where a considerable number of states hold their primaries or assemblies on the same day. This year, on March 5, a total of 16 states and American Samoa held primaries and caucuses for the 2024 presidential election.  

Daniel Bennett, associate professor of political science at John Brown University, was asked about the strategies of gaining support on campaigns. He pointed out the primary strategies employed by campaigns for Super Tuesday are maximizing voter turnout and support with a multifaceted approach, including traditional methods such as making calls, knocking on doors, and extensive advertising campaigns. The goal is to engage with voters and underscore the importance of their participation in the electoral process. However, with the rise of early voting and absentee ballots, campaigns must adapt their strategies to identify and mobilize supporters earlier in the election cycle.  

The outcome of Super Tuesday holds immense significance in the presidential primary race, historically serving as a barometer of candidate viability and momentum. However, in recent cycles, its impact has diminished, particularly when candidates have already established clear frontrunner status. 

Candidates whose names appear on the ballot in Arkansas met a filing deadline of Nov. 14, 2023. Since that time, both Democratic and Republican races have changed significantly, but the March 5 ballots reflect that earlier deadline. Voters in Arkansas will see several candidate names on the Republican and Democratic party ballots for the presidential nominees. Candidates who have suspended their campaigns, such as former Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, were still on the GOP ballot even though Nikki Haley and Donald Trump are the two remaining active candidates. On the Democratic side, ballots will include five other candidate names in addition to incumbent President Joe Biden. 

Matt Evans, a political science professor at Northwest Arkansas Community College, was asked about the evolving nature of Super Tuesday’s significance. He noted that its impact may vary depending on the competitiveness of the primary contests and the candidates’ established frontrunner status. “Super Tuesday is only meaningful when you have competitive presidential primaries,” he said. Evans emphasizes that without viable challengers to former President Trump and President Biden, the internal processes of each party provide predictable results, making Super Tuesday a non-issue in this election cycle. 

Despite polling data indicating voter displeasure with both Biden and Trump, and rumblings within party ranks about potential alternatives these factors have not translated into significant challenges to the frontrunners. In past elections, Super Tuesday served as a battleground where upstart candidates could demonstrate their viability and challenge the establishment. However, without such struggles between contenders, the role of Super Tuesday has been relegated to a mere formality. 

Janine Parry, a professor of political science at the University of Arkansas and director of the Arkansas Poll, was asked to reflect on what the Arkansas Poll’s 2022 and 2023 findings might tell observers about what to expect in Arkansas’ 2024 primaries. 

“The last couple of years of Arkansas poll data tell us two, perhaps contradictory things: first that we’ll see far higher participation, again, in the Republican Primary than in the Democratic one,” Parry said in an email. “After the briefest sort of flirtation with two-party politics, Arkansas has emphatically returned to a one-party monopoly. On the other hand, Democrats and Independents may do what they can in the technically nonpartisan judicial races, especially locally. All that said, it would be surprising to see more than 28% of eligible voters statewide participate.”