Former President Trump is set to solidify his status as the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for president on Super Tuesday.
Trump faces former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in the 15 states holding primaries or caucuses Tuesday, with 854 Republican delegates up for grabs. The former president has 273 delegates, having won every primary except Washington, D.C., which went to Haley.
To clinch the nomination, a candidate must have 1,215 delegates, so Trump will not be able to seal the deal on Super Tuesday, even if he makes a clean sweep of the primaries on March 5.
“Republican voters have delivered resounding wins for President Trump in every single primary contest, and this race is over,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said recently, per Fox News. “Our focus is now on Joe Biden and the general election.”
Trump maintains a steady lead over Haley in the limited polling for the states on Tuesday, according to FiveThirtyEight. Texas and California headline Super Tuesday with more than 300 delegates up for grabs. Other states voting include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.
“If every single conservative, Republican, and Trump supporter in these states shows up on Super Tuesday, we will be very close to finished with this primary contest,” Trump said. “Republicans will then be able to focus all of our energy, time, and resources on defeating crooked Joe Biden.”
Haley has not officially stated whether she will stay in the race after Super Tuesday but has expressed continued optimism. She has no events scheduled beyond the voting day, according to Reuters.
“As much as everybody wants to go and push me out, I’m not ready to get out yet,” Haley said in an interview on Fox and Friends Tuesday morning.
Trump holds a 2% lead over President Joe Biden in the RealClearPolitics aggregate polling.