Michigan & more early Primaries: Feb. 8-March 3, 2024
Trump and Biden down to one challenger each
We list below the delegate counts for the early primaries and caucuses -- because the delegate counts are all that matter!
Marianne Williamson withdrew after the Michigan primary, leaving Joe Biden with only Rep. Dean Phillips as a challenger. [But she "unsuspended" her campaign for Super Tuesday!]
Vivek Ramaswamy and Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew and endorsed Donald Trump, leaving only Gov. Nikki Haley as a challenger.
South Carolina & Nevada Democratic Primaries: Feb. 3-6, 2024
South Carolina Republican Primary coming on Feb. 28; Nevada Republican caucus coming on Feb. 8
President Biden won his first REAL primary -- because the N.H. primary awarded no delegates, but the South Carolina and Nevada primaries do. The reason for Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson to continue their campaigns is to gain some delegates so they have a voice at the summer convention. That didn't happen in the SC or NV primary (but it DID happen for Nikki Haley in New Hampshire, and she'll keep gaining delegates as long as she stays in the race).
The Republicans DID hold a primary in Nevada but it was a "beauty contest" where no delegates were awarded; the delegates will be awarded at a caucus on Feb. 8.
The results are in for the NH Primaries (and the Iowa caucuses).
First we report the delegate counts -- the only number that REALLY matters:
Bound Delegates
IA
NH
Total
Donald Trump
20
12
32
Nikki Haley
8
9
17
Ron DeSantis
9
0
9
Vivek Ramaswamy
3
0
3
Total needed for nomination:
1,215
Donald Trump won both IA and NH, but these are both small contests in terms of delegates, and the runners-up do get delegates awarded too. When Nikki Haley says she'll "stay in the race," she means she'll seek more delegates in her home state of South Carolina (Feb. 24) and on "Super Tuesday" (multiple states on March 5).
By staying in the race, Haley will gain hundreds of delegates, who are "bound" to vote for her in the first nominating round at the Republican Convention on July 15. Trump's delegates are bound for Trump too -- but delegates are not bound on the second round of voting. By July, Trump may face felony convictions, and some delegates may seek a second round. The pundits ask, "What is Haley's path to the nomination?" -- that is ONE path, however unlikely!
While the pundits ooze breathlessly about the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire, keep in mind that they represent only a tiny fraction of the voting population. Both are small states, and much less racially diverse than the rest of the country -- and even within their small, mostly-white populations, few people actually turn out to vote. In Iowa, only about 15% of registered Republicans voted in the caucuses (just over 100,000 people out of a population of 3.2 million). In New Hampshire, about 300,000 voted out of a population of 1.4 million (which might make 40% of registered voters). That means about 400,000 people have voted in Republican primaries -- compared to 36 million in 2020 -- there's a long way to go!
The New Hampshire Democrats did hold a primary, but did not elect any delegates (because they broke the Democratic Party rules about voting too early). Also, Joe Biden's name was not printed on the ballot (because he wanted to respect the Democratic Party rules) and all of his votes were "write-in" votes. But Biden won the popular vote handily anyway (with lower turnout than the Republican primary). The Iowa Democrats' "presidential preference" caucus will be finalized on March 5.
Sources:
CBS News, "How many delegates does New Hampshire have for the 2024 primary and how are they awarded?", by Kathryn Watson, (Link)
New York Post, "New Hampshire primary live updates: Trump celebrates third NH primary win, mocks 'imposter' Haley for loss," by Diana Glebova , Ryan King , Steven Nelson , Samuel Chamberlain and Kaydi Pelletier, (Link)
CBS News, "Iowa caucus turnout for 2024 and how it compares to previous years," by Kaia Hubbard, January 16, 2024, (Link)
New York Times, "New Hampshire's G.O.P. Primary Sets a State Turnout Record," by Nick Corasaniti, (Link)
Ballotpedia vote counts for Iowa and New Hampshire, all of the above downloaded 1/24/24 unless otherwise dated.
Oct. 6: Mayor Steve Laffey: Switched from Republican to Independent, and withdrew
For the upcoming Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, there are 5 candidates remainging running in the Republican primary, and 3 candidates running in the Democratic primary.
Source: Try our VoteMatch quiz today - now including Dr. Jill Stein and Rep. Dean Phillips.
Fourth GOP Presidential debate: Dec. 6, 2023
4 contenders in Tuscaloosa
The Republican National Committee established these qualifications for the 4th debate:
Participants must have 6% of the vote in multiple polls (an increase from 4% in the 3rd debate)
Participants must have 80,000 unique donors (an increase from 70,000 donors in the 3rd debate)
Participants must sign a pledge to support the party's eventual 2024 nominee (Trump does not qualify for this criteria, but Trump was invited anyway. Trump did not counter-program against this debate).
NewsNation Republican Primary Debate in Tuscaloosa (University of Alabama)
Moderated by Megyn Kelly of SiriusXM; Elizabeth Vargas of NewsNation; and Eliana Johnson of Washington Free Beacon
The fourth and final Republican Presidential Primary Debate of 2023, from the University of Alabama; broadcast on News Nation and the CW.
The 2023 Governor races are all decided now, so we begin our coverage of the 2024 Governor races in thirteen states.
Click on the state name below to see our coverage of the primary races,
or click on each candidate's name to see their VoteMatch responses.
Two Gubernatorial races -- MS and KY -- were decided on November 7.
Our VoteMatch quiz covers all three 2023 governor's races (pick KY, LA, or MS under "2022 Gubernatorial races").
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