Biden and Trump dominate Super Tuesday races, Haley wins in Vermont

• The Super Tuesday primaries are the largest voting day of the year outside of the November general election. Elections are held in 15 states and one territory – from Alaska and California to Vermont and Virginia. Hundreds of delegates are at stake in the primaries, the biggest haul for either party on any single day.
• As expected, longtime frontrunner for the Republican nomination Donald Trump wiped the floor with his sole remaining opponent Nikki Haley, winning 12 of the first 13 states called, including the key swing state of North Carolina. The former president will have to wait until March 12 or 19 to mathematically guarantee that he is the Republican standard-bearer in November.
• Donald Trump’s sole remaining opponent for the Republican nomination Nikki Haley won the primary in the liberal state of Vermont, blocking Donald Trump from a clean sweep of victories. Haley had also won the capital Washington DC during the weekend, but is far behind Trump and is facing calls to drop out of the race.
• On the Democrats’ side, President Joe Biden swept to victory in statewide nominating contests across the country. The only contest Biden lost Tuesday was the Democratic caucus in American Samoa, a tiny US territory in the South Pacific Ocean. Biden was defeated by previously unknown candidate Jason Palmer, 51 votes to 40.
• While much of the focus was on the presidential race, there were also important down-ballot contests. The governor’s race took shape in North Carolina, where Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein will face off in a state that both parties are fiercely contesting ahead of November. In California, Democratic Representative Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey, a former Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player, advanced to the general election race to fill the Senate seat long held by Dianne Feinstein.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters, AP)