It's Super Tuesday, the largest primary election day of the 2024 cycle

By Washington desk

Published March 5, 2024 at 8:00 AM EST

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks during her primary election night gathering on Feb. 24 in Charleston, S.C.; President Biden delivers remarks at the White House on Feb. 16; Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally March 2 in Richmond, Va..

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Votes will be tallied in 16 states and one territory today — and over a third of delegates will be assigned to determine the GOP presidential nominee.

States holding primary elections that conclude on March 5 include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia. Democrats in the U.S. territory American Samoa will be caucusing and Democrats in Iowa will release the results of their presidential preference caucus.

Going into Super Tuesday, on the Republican side, former President Donald Trump has 244 delegates and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has 43. Candidates need 1,215 to win party nomination. Trump has won all but one of the nominating contests so far, and a shutout on Super Tuesday could spark Haley to reassess her candidacy.

Ahead of the contests, Haley's campaign launched a seven-figure national cable and digital ad buy, and she's been campaigning across the country.

For Democrats, President Biden is on the ballot, and he's unlikely to face the same kind of organized protest that he did in Michigan where more than 100,000 people voted "uncommitted" over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Watch a live, in-studio video stream of NPR's special coverage of the State of the Union on NPR.org, hosted by Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep, starting 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT Thursday.

Voters will also choose their final slate of candidates in Senate, House and governors races. Among key races to watch are: a California Senate seat long held by the late-Sen. Dianne Feinstein, now occupied by Sen. Laphonza Butler; a high-stakes gubernatorial contest in North Carolina; a Texas Senate contest to pick the Democratic challenger to Sen. Ted Cruz, who is seeking a third term. Also, Alabama will be voting under a new congressional map that opened up a new district. Last fall, a federal court decided on Alabama's new congressional map that is likely to result in a Democratic member of the U.S. House.