*** Election Night Livewire *** Donald Trump Takes Another Step Toward White House on Super Tuesday

US President Donald Trump smiles during a phone conversation with Mexico's President
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Matthew Boyle
Washington, DC

Former President Donald Trump will take another gargantuan step toward the White House on Super Tuesday, assuming he pulls off what polls suggest: A total romp across more than a dozen states.

Trump is aiming to succeed in what would be the greatest political comeback in the history of mankind in 2024, and, on Tuesday evening, he has a chance to essentially wipe out his last remaining Republican primary opponent — former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Haley had a pyrrhic victory on Sunday in the primary in the nation’s Democrat-heavy capital, Washington, DC. However, her only victory so far — Trump has won literally every other state and by very healthy double-digit margins everywhere — might be her only one ever. GOP primary voters in 15 separate states will cast their ballots on Tuesday, and results across many of them will likely put Trump on the precipice of mathematically eliminating Haley from the GOP nomination in a matter of days, not weeks.

Nikki Haley (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Depending on the outcome in certain states like California, Trump could win all of the delegates awarded on Tuesday in some states, which begin to turn into winner-take-all under certain conditions like hitting majority support — which Trump has consistently been reaching — setting up a do-or-die end-of-the-line evening for Haley. For her part, she has hung in there until now despite losing every single primary and caucus so far except for the District of Columbia. Trump has won the Iowa caucuses, New Hampshire primary, Nevada caucuses, South Carolina primary, Michigan primary and caucuses, Idaho caucuses, Missouri caucuses, and the North Dakota caucuses already. With 276 delegates already heading into Super Tuesday, Trump has a massive lead over Haley’s paltry 43 delegates. To win the GOP nomination, a candidate needs to secure at least 1,215 delegates, and Trump can take a major step in that direction with what is available on Super Tuesday.

The 15 states voting in the GOP presidential primary on Super Tuesday are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. Trump is leading in public polling by huge amounts in every single one.

On the Democrat side, President Joe Biden is similarly the odds-on favorite to lock down his party’s nomination, but he is facing a pair of primary challenges from Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and author Marianne Williamson. Williamson had suspended her campaign but relaunched it after Biden’s abysmal performance in the Michigan Democrat primary, where more than 100,000 Michiganders went out of their way to vote against Biden by voting “uncommitted.” Biden might face a similar rebellion of the “uncommitted” voters on Super Tuesday, as several states voting on the Democrat side offer the option, as well. They include Minnesota, Massachusetts, Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

Joe Biden (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The states voting on the Democrat side in the presidential primaries on Super Tuesday are each of those places, as well as American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Maine, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia

In addition to the presidential primaries, several down-ticket contests could be particularly interesting on election night. In North Carolina, both Republicans and Democrats will select their gubernatorial nominees for 2024, with Republicans expected to choose Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson — a strong black conservative — and Democrats expected to choose Attorney General Josh Stein. A series of congressional primaries in North Carolina could provide clues, too, about which party may control the U.S. House after November’s elections.

In Texas, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) faces a very-well-funded primary challenger as she seeks to hang on to her seat after losing a bid for mayor of Houston. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) faces primary challenges from several fronts that could force him into a runoff. Statewide in the Lone Star State, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is easily expected to win the GOP nomination for another term in the Senate, and Democrats will pick their nominee to face him; most observers expect them to select Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX).

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz (TOM WILLIAMS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Out in California, several congressional primaries could decide the future of battleground congressional races that have a major impact on the U.S. House landscape in November, while Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) seeks to lock down an easy path to the U.S. Senate for the seat that the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) left behind when she passed away. What happens in that primary — whether Schiff advances to a general election and who advances with him between Republican Steve Garvey or Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) — could determine a lot about that. California has jungle primaries where all candidates from all parties face off in the primary and then the top two vote-getters advance to the general, so it is entirely possible Porter advances with Schiff, complicating matters for Democrats.

Schiff

Adam Schiff (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In Alabama, due to redistricting, two Republican House members — Reps. Jerry Carl (R-AL) and Barry Moore (R-AL) — face off in a member-member primary as well that could determine what the House GOP conference looks like in 2024 regardless of whether the party is in the majority. Carl is a more establishment type in the GOP conference, whereas Moore is a member of the House Freedom Caucus.

Polls in Virginia and Vermont close at 7:00 p.m. ET. Polls in North Carolina close at 7:30 p.m. ET. Polls in Alabama, Massachusetts, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and most of Texas close at 8:00 p.m. ET. Polls in Arkansas and American Samoa close at 8:30 p.m. ET. Polls in Colorado, Minnesota, and the westernmost part of Texas close at 9:00 p.m. ET. Polls in Utah and California close at 11:00 p.m. ET. Polls in Alaska close at midnight ET. The polls in the Iowa Democratic Caucuses, which are being conducted differently in 2024, through mail-in ballots, technically close at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Follow along here on Breitbart News for live results, news, and analysis throughout the evening.

UPDATE 12:27 a.m. ET:

Apparently there are issues out in Utah delaying the release of the results:

UPDATE 12:17 a.m. ET:

Republican Steve Garvey is advancing to the general election in November in the California U.S. Senate race to face Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA):

UPDATE 12:04 a.m. ET:

Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) won a member-member primary with Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL) in Alabama. This is another win for conservatives and another setback for the establishment.

UPDATE 12:00 a.m. ET:

The polls have now closed in Alaska and results are expected imminently.

UPDATE 11:57 p.m. ET:

Joe Biden’s former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, now an MSNBC analyst, as well as other MSNBC hosts Joy Reid and Rachel Maddow, spent the evening mocking Virginia voters for being concerned about immigration:

If you want to know why serious Democrats and serious Republicans think Virginia is actually in play in November, this attitude from Biden’s top elitist allies is exactly why. Keep mocking Americans, ladies. It’s working really well for you and your guy Joe Biden.

UPDATE 11:50 p.m. ET:

Nikki Haley, who is in hiding this evening much like how Hillary Clinton was on election night in 2016, is refusing to appear in public and address supporters. Instead, she ordered her national campaign spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas to issue a statement on the results. Haley’s campaign statement does not say she will continue her campaign beyond this evening, leading many to believe she will drop out of the race when she reappears on Wednesday,

:We’re honored to have received the support of millions of Americans across the country today, including in Vermont where Nikki became the first Republican woman to win two presidential primary contests,” Perez-Cubas said in the Haley campaign statement. “Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united.’ Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump. That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters’ concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.”

UPDATE 11:29 p.m. ET:

Decision Desk HQ is projecting that Schiff will advance to the general election in November in the California Senate race:

UPDATE 11:23 p.m. ET:

The AP has called California for Trump too:

UPDATE 11:13 p.m. ET:

In the Senate primary in California, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is out to an early lead with 37.7 percent while Republican Steve Garvey is at 29.5 percent. Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) is down in third at 13.3 percent. But there’s only 2 percent reporting so this could change, but it looks like if this holds Schiff and Garvey will face off in November.

UPDATE 11:05 p.m. ET:

Womack barely held on and won an embarrassingly close finish in Arkansas’s third congressional district:

This race never should have been this close given the cash advantage Womack had:

But the fact is Womack’s votes against Jordan for Speaker last year and his continued opposition to conservatives and support for big government are leading Arkansans to turn against him. He is very vulnerable in future elections. Watch this district in future years. A better-funded primary challenger would probably crush this swamp monster.

UPDATE 11:00 p.m. ET:

The polls have closed in California. CNN projected Trump will win the GOP primary in California the second the polls closed.

UPDATE 10:43 p.m. ET:

The AP just called Vermont for Haley:

UPDATE 10:38 p.m. ET:

Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report says that it looks like Gonzales has failed to win the GOP nomination for his seat in Texas’s 23rd congressional district:

That means a runoff looms with Herrera.

UPDATE 10:34 p.m. ET:

Trump is continuing to make a clear, policy-focused critique of Biden focused on the border and immigration.

“We’re going to take back our country,” Trump said. “We’re going to make sure we’re going to do it right. We’re going to have the greatest economy ever in the history of our country. We’re going to top what we did.”

Trump said the U.S. under his second term will become an “energy center” for the world, too.

UPDATE 10:28 p.m. ET:

Things are looking worse and worse for Gonzales in Texas. With 88 percent in now, he’s dropped to just 46.3 percent and Herrera has risen to 21.5 percent. Unless something changes big time–things keep going the wrong direction for Gonzales–it looks like he is headed to a runoff where he is in very big trouble.

UPDATE 10:23 p.m. ET:

As Trump is speaking, calls are beginning to slowly roll in for the one pyrrhic victory tonight for Haley–in socialist Bernie Sanders’s Vermont:

So she’s won the swamp in Washington, D.C., and the socialist bastion of Vermont. And lost everything else.

UPDATE 10:20 p.m. ET:

Trump is ripping Biden for flying migrants across the country, after he also ripped Biden for foreign policy and economic failures.

“They want open borders and open borders are going to destroy our country,” Trump said.

UPDATE 10:19 p.m. ET:

Trump has taken the stage to thank his supporters nationally after a historic victory across the country.

“I think we’re going to be able to do something that frankly nobody has been able to do for a long time,” Trump says.

UPDATE 10:09 p.m. ET:

Haley has pulled back out in front in Vermont, but it’s not like it matters much. Winning Bernie Sanders’s home state doesn’t mean much for Republicans if she does hang on there.

UPDATE 10:00 p.m. ET:

Polls have closed in Utah now.

UPDATE 9:57 p.m. ET:

It looks like Joe Biden LOST the Democrat caucuses to somebody nobody has ever heard of out in American Samoa, a total and complete embarrassment for him. He will still be the Democrat nominee, but this is embarrassing:

UPDATE 9:54 p.m. ET:

Former President Donald Trump is expected to speak at about 10:15 p.m. ET this evening, his campaign told Breitbart News.

UPDATE 9:50 p.m. ET:

An emerging undercurrent trend this evening may be a rising movement among Democrats to reject their party’s president, Joe Biden, by voting against him and instead voting for “uncommitted.” After it happened last week in Michigan, it’s now happening in Minnesota and Colorado. In fact, it may end up being worse in Minnesota for Biden than it was in Michigan. This is terrible for an incumbent president of any party.

UPDATE 9:41 p.m. ET:

Don’t look now but Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) is in very big trouble in Arkansas’s third congressional district. He keeps sliding. With 63 percent reporting, he has dropped under 55 percent against his primary challenger Clint Penzo. Womack is at 54.5 percent and Penzo is at 45.5 percent.

The commonality between the two establishment Republicans, Womack and Gonzales, who are in trouble tonight? They both voted against Jordan for Speaker on the House floor last year.

UPDATE 9:36 p.m. ET:

Trump wins Minnesota now too:

UPDATE 9:34 p.m. ET:

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan is trailing his primary opponent right now:

UPDATE 9:22 p.m. ET:

NBC News projects that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) will fend off her primary challenger after having lost the Houston mayor’s race before:

UPDATE 9:13 p.m. ET:

Trump has now won Colorado too:

And Trump leads in Minnesota big time, but it’s early there.

UPDATE 9:10 p.m. ET:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has easily won his primary in Texas:

While the Democrat side has not been called yet, Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) is expected to face him in November in one of the only places Republicans are playing defense in Senate races in 2024.

UPDATE 9:08 p.m. ET:

In Texas’s 23rd district, Gonzales keeps dropping further down. He’s way under 50 percent now, down at 49.1 percent, with Herrera at 20.3 percent. If Herrera can keep Gonzales under 50, he forces a runoff. This is terrible for the GOP establishment and great for grassroots conservatives.

UPDATE 9:05 p.m. ET:

The AP has joined others in finally formally calling Arkansas for Trump:

UPDATE 9:03 p.m. ET:

The AP has called Texas for Trump too:

UPDATE 9:01 p.m. ET:

Right as the polls closed, CNN projected that Trump won the state of Texas.

UPDATE 9:00 p.m. ET:

Polls have now closed in all of Texas, as well as in Colorado and Minnesota.

UPDATE 8:57 p.m. ET:

Vermont has now flipped back Trump’s way, with 41 percent reporting. Trump is at 48.65 percent to Haley’s 47.77 percent. The fact that the very deep blue Vermont is the only place she’s competitive tonight is not a good sign for her and a great sign for Trump.

UPDATE 8:54 p.m. ET:

The networks and news organizations have not called it yet because some polling places are still open in Texas, but Trump has a massive lead in what’s been reported so far there. With 41 percent reporting so far, Trump has 75.2 percent to Haley’s 19.6 percent–on par for a blowout win.

UPDATE 8:50 p.m. ET:

Trump has won the Massachusetts GOP primary:

UPDATE 8:42 p.m. ET:

Gonzales has now dropped well under 50 percent in Texas’s 23rd district, down to 49.7 percent of the vote with 48 percent reporting so far. He’s in very big trouble. If he does not avoid a runoff tonight, he could very well be in very big trouble in the runoff.

UPDATE 8:40 p.m. ET:

With 35 percent reporting in Vermont, Haley is back in the lead there over Trump. Haley has 48.53 percent while Trump has 47.93 percent.

UPDATE 8:37 p.m. ET:

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), a very establishment Republican who was one of the 25 intransigents who blocked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) from the Speakership, is hovering right around the mark that would force him into a runoff. He’s at 50.2 percent with 42 percent reporting. His next closest challenger is Brandon Herrera. If Gonzales fails to hold over 50 percent, this race will go to a very high-profile runoff.

UPDATE 8:32 p.m. ET:

Decision Desk HQ is projecting Trump wins Arkansas:

UPDATE 8:30 p.m. ET:

Polls have closed now in Arkansas. Results are expected imminently.

UPDATE 8:20 p.m. ET:

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) is currently crushing her very-well-funded primary opponent in Houston. With 41 percent reporting, Jackson-Lee leads 62.2 percent to Amanda Edwards’ 35.6 percent.

UPDATE 8:16 p.m. ET:

A key Trump-endorsed Republican won the GOP primary in North Carolina’s 14th congressional district:

UPDATE 8:14 p.m. ET:

Polls also closed in most of Texas at 8 p.m. ET and Trump has a gargantuan lead there. More on that later.

UPDATE 8:08 p.m. ET:

Projections are rolling in showing Trump won Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Maine:

UPDATE 8:05 p.m. ET:

Results are trickling in from Alabama, Maine, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Trump leads in every single one.

UPDATE 8:00 p.m. ET:

Polls have now closed in Massachusetts, Alabama, Maine, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Results are expected imminently.

UPDATE 7:52 p.m. ET:

Trump has now taken the lead in Vermont with 11 percent reporting, leading Haley by a little more than a hundred votes–with Trump at 49.7 percent and Haley at 47 percent.

UPDATE 7:47 p.m. ET:

Vermont is evening out now, as Haley’s early lead has dwindled essentially completely. Now, she leads by less than a hundred votes with 10 percent reporting.

UPDATE 7;40 p.m. ET:

It’s early but with 7 percent reporting in Vermont according to the New York Times, Haley has a slight lead over Trump in the deep blue state. Haley, at 51.8 percent, leads Trump’s 44.8 percent. Republicans will not win Vermont in the general election so this is kind of meaningless in the bigger picture, but if Haley were to eke out a victory here it might be good for a press release from her failed campaign.

UPDATE 7:37 p.m. ET:

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has won the GOP nomination for governor in North Carolina, per NBC News and ABC News:

UPDATE 7:35 p.m. ET:

CBS News has also called North Carolina for Trump:

UPDATE 7:33 p.m. ET:

NBC News has also called North Carolina for Trump:

UPDATE 7:32 p.m. ET:

The Virginia race call is official now:

UPDATE 7:30 p.m. ET:

Polls have now closed in North Carolina and CNN projected Trump wins the Tar Heel state the second the polls closed. CNN also projected Biden won the North Carolina Democratic primary.

UPDATE 7:29 p.m. ET:

Turning Point’s Charlie Kirk shared this image of guidance from the Haley campaign suggesting she will not be delivering public remarks this evening. Not appearing in public would be a disaster for her campaign–essentially pulling a Hillary Clinton (remember when she did not appear in public when Trump smoked her in November 2016?):

Haley may be setting up a move to drop out of the race on Wednesday sometime, several well-placed sources tell Breitbart News.

UPDATE 7:27 p.m. ET:

Trump has won Virginia according to both CNN and NBC News:

UPDATE 7:21 p.m. ET:

With 3 percent now reporting in Virginia, Trump has expanded his now nearly two-to-one lead over Haley with Trump at 63.1 percent and Haley down at 34.9 percent.

Some entities, like Decision Desk HQ, are already calling it for Trump:

Rumors are also flying that Haley will hide from the public in Charleston and not address supporters publicly this evening.

UPDATE 7:17 p.m. ET:

About 1 percent is now reporting in Vermont according to the New York Times and Trump as expected has a big lead. Trump, at 56.8 percent, leads Haley’s 39.1 percent.

UPDATE 7:15 p.m. ET:

About 1 percent is in now in Virginia and Trump is at 56.9 percent while Haley is at 40.7 percent.

UPDATE 7:10 p.m. ET:

The CNN panel is getting rambunctious early with Van Jones predicting that Virginia is not in play in the general election multiple times but Scott Jennings firing back that he thinks Virginia will be competitive in November. Trump has told Breitbart News he intends to make a “heavy play” for Virginia in the general election.

UPDATE 7:09 p.m. ET:

The very first results are trickling in in Virginia, and according to the New York Times currently Trump leads 67.7 percent to Haley’s 32.2 percent. Less than a thousand votes are in though, so this will probably change dramatically.

UPDATE 7:05 p.m. ET:

Biden won Vermont too:

UPDATE 7:04 p.m. ET:

Both CNN and CBS News have called Virginia’s Democrat primary for Biden:

On the GOP side, networks are waiting for more information to make a call.

UPDATE 7:00 p.m. ET:

The polls are closed now in Virginia and Vermont. Results are expected imminently.

UPDATE 6:52 p.m. ET:

Exit polling is beginning to emerge from CNN and NBC

in Virginia and North Carolina and paints an interesting picture of the electorate:

Also, the Asssociated Press projected Biden won the Iowa Democratic Caucuses:

This is no surprise, but the first race call of the evening.

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