Super Tuesday results begin as Biden and Trump claim early victories
US President Joe Biden has notched his first Super Tuesday wins, taking Iowa, Virginia and Vermont, according to Associated Press predictions.
So far Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential nominating contests in Virginia and North Carolina, Edison Research projected.
The elections are being held in 16 states and one territory — from Alaska and California to Vermont and Virginia. Hundreds of delegates are at stake, the biggest haul for either party on any single day.
Biden started off the night by winning Iowa, where Democrats previously held their contest but released results Tuesday.
The night will also see important down-ballot contests.
California voters will choose candidates who will compete to fill the Senate seat long held by Dianne Feinstein.
The governor’s race will take shape in North Carolina, a state that both parties are fiercely contesting ahead of November.
And in Los Angeles, a progressive prosecutor is attempting to fend off an intense reelection challenge in a contest that could serve as a barometer of the politics of crime.
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador and former South Carolina governor is not holding any public events Tuesday night.
Haley’s campaign says she’s spending election night in the Charleston, South Carolina, area and watching results come in with her staff.
While most voters headed to the polls, two Nasa astronauts performed their civic duty on board the International Space Station.
Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara confirmed they had cast their ballots on Super Tuesday in posts on X, writing: “Being in space didn’t stop (O’Hara) and I from voting. Go vote today!”
According to Nasa’s website, after an astronaut fills out an electronic absentee ballot on board the space station, the encrypted document goes through a tracking and data relay satellite to a ground antenna at the White Sands Complex in New Mexico.
From there, the ballot is sent to the Mission Control Centre in Houston and forwarded to the county clerk’s office.
The Super Tuesday primaries are the largest voting day of the year in the United States aside from the November general election.
With agencies
