The Super Tuesday primaries are the largest voting day of the year outside of the November general election.
Voters in 16 states will choose who they want to run for president. Some states are also deciding who should run for governor or senator or district attorneys.
Party primaries, caucuses or presidential preference votes are being held in Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
Here’s the latest:
ONLY MINOR WRINKLES IN THE HOUSTON AREA
HOUSTON — Elections in recent years in Texas’ most populous county have drawn attention because of problems ranging from paper ballot shortages to malfunctioning machines to long lines.
But Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, whose office is now in charge of elections, says that so far on Super Tuesday, things generally have gone smoothly in the area, with problems in just a few places.
Those problems have been dealt with, Hudspeth said, and she’s now taking her “first deep breath for the day knowing that voters are voting, our polls are working, and we’ve been able to address everything.”
HALEY BACKER LIKES CANDIDATE’S ‘RESILIENCY’
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — “It’s time for a woman.”
That’s what Pam Hulstrand, 65, said as she cast her presidential primary ballot for Republican Nikki Haley in Eden Prairie, a Twin Cities suburb.
Haley, she said, is a new leader with experience and confidence.
But Hulstrand also said she’s prepared to vote for Republican front-runner Donald Trump in November if it comes to that. She said she voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but won’t do so again.
Hulstrand is holding out hope that Haley will win the nomination.
“The fact that she’s not giving up says a lot about her resiliency,” Hulstrand said.
Hulstrand, a minister, said she likes Haley’s stances on issues such as what’s taught in schools.
SAY WHAT? A CANDIDATE IS TOLD SHE ALREADY VOTED
HOUSTON — When the Houston area’s top prosecutor went to vote Tuesday, she was told she already had done so.
It took a bit of work, but the hiccup was soon resolved, and Kim Ogg was able to vote in the primary, in which she is seeking a third term.
Ogg says she was told that when her partner cast a ballot during early voting last week, it was mistakenly cast in Ogg’s name.
A county clerk says the mistake was fixed and Ogg got the go-ahead to vote.
BIDEN PREPS FOR THE STATE OF THE UNION
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden spent much of the run-up to Super Tuesday preparing for that OTHER big political event of the week: his annual State of the Union address.
Biden has been holed up at Camp David, the presidential retreat outside Washington, with some of his closest aides and outside advisers, according to a person familiar with the preparations. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss the president’s private preparations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Among those with him: White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed, senior adviser Anita Dunn, speechwriting director Vinay Reddy, counselor Steve Ricchetti, and Mike Donilon, a veteran Biden aide who recently moved from the White House to the campaign. Also on hand was the presidential historian Jon Meacham, a Biden favorite.
Others are participating virtually, according to the person familiar with the preparations.
The president returns to the White House later Tuesday. The address is scheduled for Thursday.
— Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim
TAYLOR TELLS SWIFTIES TO GET OUT AND VOTE
NEW YORK — Taylor Swift has not announced an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race. But the influential pop superstar is encouraging people to get out and vote.
In a post Tuesday on Instagram, Swift reminded her vast army of followers that the presidential primary is being held in Tennessee, where Swift lives, and elsewhere.
She wrote, “I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power. If you haven’t already, make a plan to vote today.”
Swift endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2020 and backed Democratic candidates in Tennessee in 2018 after breaking her longstanding refusal to discuss her political views.
HUCKABEE SANDERS PLACES BETS ON TRUMP
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders says she’s confident her former boss Donald Trump will win the Republican Party’s nomination and take back the White House in the November general election.
Sanders served as White House press secretary for the former president. She cast her ballot at a Little Rock community center Tuesday morning with her husband, Bryan Sanders.
She told reporters after casting her ballot, “This is a head-to-head matchup at this point between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and he’s the clear favorite, has all the momentum, and I feel really good about him winning again in November.”
Sanders also says she wasn’t surprised by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Monday restoring Trump to primary ballots.
She said the fact that it was a 9-0 decision is “very telling” and added that “it should be a signal to stop trying to use our courts for political purposes.”
BIDEN PROMOTES HIMSELF TO BLACK VOTERS
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden hit the radio airwaves as he aims to shore up his standing among Black voters, a critical constituency for Democrats in the November general election.
In a radio interview that aired on Super Tuesday morning with Ms. Jessica, a radio personality in North Carolina, Biden promoted his achievements for Black voters, such as increased funding for historically Black colleges and universities and key investments in infrastructure to benefit Black communities.
In another radio interview, with “DeDe in the Morning,” Biden took a sharp jab at his likely Republican opponent, Donald Trump, and what would happen if Democrats lose the White House.
“You’re going to be back with Donald Trump,” says Biden. “The way he talks about, the way he acted, the way he has dealt with the African American community, I think, has been shameful.”
