What's at stake for Republicans, Democrats on Super Tuesday?
MINNEAPOLIS — We are just one day from Super Tuesday, when Minnesotans and voters in 15 other states and territories will go to the polls in presidential primaries.
With President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump rolling to their respective nominations, one question is will voters turn out?
Both Biden and Trump have easily won all their presidential primaries and caucuses so far. But questions dog both of their candidacies. With Biden, poll after poll shows voters are worried about his age. With Trump, polls show voters worry he might be convicted in one of his four upcoming criminal trials.
The latest New York Times Sienna poll shows if the general election were held today, Trump is ahead of Biden 48% to 44%. That same poll shows in the race for the Republican nomination, Trump has a huge lead over Nikki Haley — 76% to 21%. On the Democratic side, Biden has a similar lead of 79% to Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips' 10%.
Biden faced a sizeable protest vote in Michigan over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war — will that protest vote happen here? Muslim leaders have been urging Minnesota voters to not vote for Biden but to vote "uncommitted."
Haley campaigned last week in Minnesota before a big crowd in Bloomington. Will voters still cast ballots for her knowing she has little chance of winning the nomination?
Democratic analyst Abou Amara and Republican analyst Amy Koch were guests on WCCO Sunday Morning at 10:30 a.m. Asked about whether the Israel-Hamas protest vote will happen here, Amara said, "I suspect they will try to replicate it, it won't be as successful. But remember, I think turnout will be generally lower because there is really one person on the ballot and that is Joe Biden."
Koch said it's really unclear what Haley voters will do next.
"What will the Nikki Haley vote mean for former President Trump? Where will they go? That is the question. While it is not significant in this primary, a few points here and there, five to six points here and there can make all the difference in the general," she said.
The nomination for both parties will be decided by the number of delegates. Right now, Trump has 244 delegates to Haley's 24 delegates. If Trump performs on Super Tuesday the way he has in every previous primary, he could wrap up the GOP nomination in a matter of weeks. Biden is expected to take just slightly longer to win the Democratic nomination. And it's not because of Phillips, who has won no delegates at all. Democrats simply have more total delegates, so it's expected to take Biden slightly longer to clinch his nomination.
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rosso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.