What is Super Tuesday? How are delegates chosen? How NC’s presidential primary works
By the time North Carolina’s primary election is over Tuesday, the presidential nominees for the major political parties may be all but decided.
But if you’re a newcomer to North Carolina — and even if you’re not — you may be asking how the process works here, and how much say our state has in the selection of a presidential ticket.
We’ve compiled answers. We explain what Super Tuesday is, how a semi-open primary works and more.
What is a state primary?
In broad terms, during state primary elections voters pick which candidates from one party, from across various partisan offices, they would like to see move on to the general election.
During presidential election years, voters also select their preferred presidential nominee: The presidential candidate who gets the most votes during the primary generally receives the bulk of state delegates, who then vote for the state’s preferred candidate in the parties’ national conventions.
The national convention winners then move on to the general election, where voters pick their preferred candidates across party lines.
What about caucuses?
All U.S. states and territories use primary elections to select party nominees for at least some offices, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. This follows a decades-long trend toward including more people in party nomination processes and has largely replaced caucuses, according to the conference.
Some states continue to use the caucus process – or a gathering of registered party members to select preferred candidates. Other states split the way they choose, such as Hawaii, which holds a Republican caucus but a Democratic primary. A lot comes down to state laws and state party rules.
Iowa, through the caucus process, is typically the first to vote on a presidential nominee, launching the months-long race for the White House. This year, that was a Republican-only election, with Democrats moving South Carolina to the front of their calendar. As more states hold their caucuses and primaries, the field of contenders narrows.
What is Super Tuesday?
Many states hold primaries or caucuses on a Tuesday in March of a presidential election year, called Super Tuesday.
This year, 15 states, including North Carolina, will vote on Super Tuesday, or March 5. The lineup changes a bit from year to year as states and local governments determine the dates.
This day is important during presidential election years because it includes wide swaths of the American electorate and typically by its end, helps crystallize which candidates are the likely party nominee. By the end of Super Tuesday, a big bulk of delegates to either or both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention can be won.
This year’s Super Tuesday will bring clarity to whether former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has a chance of being the GOP’s presidential nominee. She has lost by wide margins to former President Donald Trump in Iowa, New Hampshire and the U.S. Virgin Islands and lost to “none of the above” in the Nevada primary.
Most recently, she lost heavily to Trump on Feb. 25 in South Carolina, her home state (obtaining three delegates while Trump obtained 47), but said she will remain in the race until Super Tuesday. Also on Feb. 25, the Wyoming caucus process began, but results won’t be known for months. On the Democratic side, there is no major competition for President Joe Biden.
The roots of Super Tuesday go back to the 1980s, when a group of states started the practice of front-loading state primaries, counteracting the effect of small states which made their selections earlier, such as Iowa and New Hampshire.
What is a semi-open primary?
Primaries can be open, where a voter can vote in any party primary, or closed, where a voter can only vote in the primary of the party they are registered with.
There are also semi-closed primaries, where voters registered with a specific party can participate solely in that party’s primary. Meanwhile, unaffiliated voters can elect which party primary they would like to participate in.
There are also some states where parties themselves choose whether to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in the primary.
How do primaries work in NC?
In North Carolina, primaries are semi-closed.
This allows the many unaffiliated voters in the state a chance to participate. Unaffiliated voters account for nearly 37% of all registered voters, making them the state’s largest voting bloc.
Presidential candidates who show up as options for voters on the primary ballot are submitted by the parties, with the state election board having the ability, but not obligation, to add additional candidates should they meet certain requirements.
Last year, Democrats submitted a list with Biden as the sole option. Republicans listed Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Haley and others. The Libertarian Party also listed a slew of candidates. The board of elections approved those lists in January.
Apart from the presidential race, this year, North Carolinians will also vote in the primary for Council of State members, including for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Depending on where they live, voters will also pick North Carolina’s state legislative and congressional representatives, and more.
Candidates who run in these races must meet certain requirements, such as being above a certain age and filing forms, but do not need the party they are affiliated with to back them or allow their name to show up on the ballot.
What are delegates? What is the national convention?
During the national conventions for the major parties, delegates, who represent their states, pick their party’s nominee for the general election.
For the Republicans, in 2024 there are still 2,287 delegates up for grabs, with a candidate needing to win at least 1,215 to secure the nomination, according to Associated Press data. Of those delegates, 874 delegates are on the table on March 5. So far, Trump has 110 delegates and Haley 20, AP data shows. Candidates who have since dropped out also nabbed a few delegates.
There are 74 North Carolina delegates to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from July 15 to 18. Of those, 42 are allocated proportionally, with certain threshold requirements, based on the results in each congressional district and the rest based on the statewide primary results, according to state party rules.
Delegates are bound by the results of the primary for the first two ballots and must vote for a pledged candidate, according to the state party rules
Democrats in 2024 still have 3,609 delegates up for grabs, with a candidate needing to win at least 1,968 to secure the nomination.
So far, 91 total delegates from Nevada and South Carolina have already been assigned to Biden, according to the AP data. A challenger, U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, has zero. After the Democratic primary in Michigan on Feb. 27 comes Super Tuesday, during which 1,439 delegates are up for grabs.
This data doesn’t include automatic delegates, which are more commonly known as superdelegates and are free to vote for any candidate regardless of the primary votes. But these superdelegates won’t have a say in picking the nominee this year unless no candidate wins a majority in the initial convention vote.
North Carolina sends 130 of those Democratic delegates ,with 116 pledged and 14 automatic, according to the North Carolina Democratic Party website.
The pledged delegates are allocated proportionally, with certain threshold requirements, based on the statewide and congressional-level results from the primary. The Democratic National Convention will take place in Chicago from Aug. 19 to 22.
The Libertarian Party will have a presidential primary, but results are not binding. The party’s candidate will be named during its convention, where a candidate needs to get a majority of support. If no candidate gets a majority vote, the candidate with the least votes and any candidates polling less than 5% are cut from the subsequent ballot. This is done until there is a winner.
Pending is whether the two other parties recognized by the state, the Green Party and the No Labels Party will put forward presidential candidates — which won’t happen through the primary process.
No Labels so far has no down-ballot candidates. The Green Party has a few.
Also pending is whether presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent, will get enough signatures on a petition to add his name to the North Carolina general election ballot. This is a process that unaffiliated candidates must go through to qualify for the general election.
This story was originally published February 9, 2024 at 7:55 AM.
