One of the most important days of the 2020 presidential campaign is coming up. On March 3, 14 states will hold primary elections: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia (Democratic primary only). This is a very important day in determining who will become the Democratic nominee for president. Of the 3,979 delegates up for grabs during the entire primary campaign, 1,357 are at stake during “Super Tuesday”.

When it comes to Super Tuesday, the term “delegate” has a few meanings. District delegates are distributed across congressional lines then allocated to candidates based on district primary results; at-large delegates are allocated to candidates based on state-wide primary results; and pledged party leader and elected official (“superdelegates”) are also allocated to candidates based on state-wide primary results. But a candidate must win 15% of the vote to get any delegates, which may be too high of a threshold for some candidates.

Because of this, the remaining Democratic candidates must perform well on Super Tuesday if they hope to secure their party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention July 13-16 in Milwaukee, Wis. Those candidates are former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Bloomberg is a potential wildcard, due to having the adequate resources to remain in the race and still compete in some of the larger, post-Super Tuesday states like Florida (219 delegates, March 17 primary) and New York (274 delegates, April 28 primary).

President Trump still needs to secure the Republican Party’s and his re-election campaign and is listed on the ballot in many states next week. However, as the incumbent, his opposition in the Republican party is limited. Several states (Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Kansas, Nevada, South Carolina and Virginia) cancelled primaries opting to directly select their delegates at state party conventions citing high support of the President among Republicans and the costs of holding a primary election.

The Republican National Convention is Aug. 24-27 in Charlotte, N.C.

In many states, voters are not only choosing the nominee for President.  There are also a number of competitive down ballot races for other offices including senators and governors.

Remember to vote

It is very important that golf’s voice is heard during the primary season. If your state is holding its primary election be sure to vote and post your picture wearing your “I Voted!” sticker on social media using the #GolfVotes hashtag so elected officials continue to know how important golf is.