WASHINGTON – With Super Tuesday fast approaching, presidential campaigns are eyeing the biggest prize of the day, the California primary.
Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican front-runner Donald Trump both hope that California — and contests in other states — can help them turn the corner toward the nomination and focus on their expected general election rematch in November.
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In the Democratic primary, Biden faces challenges from Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and self-help author Marianne Williamson, who reentered the nomination race Wednesday after dropping out three weeks earlier. In the Republican primary, Trump once again faces former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who scored her first victory Sunday in the Washington, D.C., primary but faces a tough electoral map on Super Tuesday.
The highest profile state race in California is the one to succeed the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The crowded field of candidates includes Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey, a former baseball star.
There are two primary elections on the ballot to replace Feinstein: one is to fill the remaining months of her current term and the other is for a full six-year term starting in January 2025.
California has a “top-two” primary system in which all candidates appear on the same ballot regardless of party, and the top two finishers advance to the general election.
In the presidential race, California is home to the largest haul of delegates in both parties. The state's 424 Democratic delegates make up almost one-third of the total at stake on Super Tuesday.
On the Republican side, the state’s 169 delegates amount to about one-fifth of those available that day. The party’s delegate rules, which award all delegates to the candidate who wins a statewide vote majority, greatly favor front-running candidates and gives Trump an opportunity to capture every delegate at stake.
Another notable race on the ballot is the primary to replace Porter in the 47th Congressional District, a seat she gave up to run for the Senate.
Vote counting in California is famously slow. It’s not unusual for only about half of the vote to be counted by the morning after the election.
The Super Tuesday primaries are comprised of California and 15 other states holding presidential nominating contests. American Samoa is also holding Democratic caucuses that day. It is the single largest day of voting in the primary calendar.
A look at what to expect on election night:
ELECTION DAY
The California presidential and state primaries will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 11 p.m. EST.
WHAT’S ON THE BALLOT
The Democratic presidential candidates are Biden, Phillips, Williamson and five others. The Republican candidates include Trump, Haley, Florida businessman David Stuckenberg and former candidates Ryan Binkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Asa Hutchinson and Vivek Ramaswamy. Other races on the ballot include primaries for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state Senate and state House.
WHO CAN VOTE
Only registered Republicans may vote in the Republican presidential primary. Registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters may vote in the Democratic presidential primary. All registered voters may vote in the state primaries with a “top-two” ballot format.
DELEGATE ALLOCATION RULES
There are 424 pledged Democratic delegates at stake in California, and they’re awarded according to the national party’s standard rules. Ninety-two at-large delegates are allocated in proportion to the statewide vote, as are 55 PLEO delegates, or “party leaders and elected officials.” The state’s 52 congressional districts have a combined 277 delegates at stake, which are allocated in proportion to the vote results in each district. Candidates must receive at least 15% of the statewide vote to qualify for any statewide delegates, and 15% of the vote in a congressional district to qualify for delegates in that district.
For Republicans, all 169 delegates are awarded to the candidate who wins a majority of the statewide vote. If no candidate reaches a majority, the 169 delegates are allocated proportionally among the candidates.
DECISION NOTES
Trump became the dominant figure in the Republican politics since his election in 2016, and his hold on the party continues eight years later. He remains popular among conservative Republicans, and that has translated into success at the ballot box this year, having won all but one of the contests where both he and Haley appeared on the ballot.
In this year’s primaries and caucuses, Haley has done best in heavily Democratic areas, which California has plenty to offer. But Trump has mostly won in Democratic-leaning areas as well as in Republican strongholds, enabling him to win overall by large margins.
Trump won a nonbinding California primary in 2016 with 75% of the vote after he had already clinched the nomination.
For the Democrats, Biden has faced only nominal opposition from Phillips and Williamson and heads into the contest as the overwhelming frontrunner.
In state races, including the Senate primaries, slow vote-counting could delay a call for one or both spots on the November ballot if it's not clear which candidates will prevail once all votes are tabulated.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
WHAT DO TURNOUT AND ADVANCE VOTE LOOK LIKE
Turnout in the 2022 U.S. Senate and gubernatorial primaries was about 32% of registered voters.
As of Wednesday, more than 2 million vote had been cast before Election Day, about 50% by Democrats and about 32% by Republicans. In the 2022 gubernatorial primary, pre-Election Day voting made up about 91% of the total vote.
HOW LONG DOES VOTE-COUNTING USUALLY TAKE?
In the 2022 primary election, the AP first reported results at 11:11 p.m. EST, or 11 minutes after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended at 6:10 a.m. EST with about 48% of total votes counted.
ARE WE THERE YET?
As of Super Tuesday, there will be 132 days until the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, 167 days until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and 245 until the November general election.