Who's In The Lead After Super Tuesday?

As precincts finished tallying votes and every county had reported its results, Super Tuesday appeared to be a thoroughly predictable political event. Twelve states participated in a series of caucuses and primaries, along with America Samoa and Democrats abroad. On the right, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump only widened his lead while Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz picked up scant victories. Rubio was able to at least nab the state of Minnesota while Cruz reigned victorious in Oklahoma, Alaska, and his home turf of Texas. On the left, Hillary Clinton managed to win the most states, though Bernie Sanders certainly put up an impressive fight, winning in Vermont, Colorado, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. With such impressive showings for top candidates on both sides, it's rather unsurprising who's in the lead after Super Tuesday.

For Super Tuesday alone, 478 delegates were up for grabs on the Republican side. Trump had established a substantial lead going into the event and did well enough to receive at least half of those delegates available. Cruz's second place showing simply paled in comparison, though it did distance him from Marco Rubio and firmly establish his runner-up status. When it came to Democratic candidates, Clinton appeared to be simply untouchable in her victories. Her largest margin of victory occurred in Alaska, where she received nearly 80 percent of the vote. Based off the extra delegates as well as the many superdelegates and previous primary and caucus wins, Clinton appears all but certain to win the presidential nominee.

For either Sanders or Clinton to earn the presidential nomination, they must receive at least 2,383 delegates. Judging by the numbers, it appears as if the fight between the Vermont senator and the former secretary of state is still too close to call. Shockingly, that may very well still be the case for the GOP as well.

Though Trump has a total of 285 delegates, he's still got quite a ways to go before he hits the nomination requirement of 1,237 delegates. An outpouring of support continues to establish him as an inevitable presidential nominee. Anything could technically happen, however. That's certainly what lower tier Republican candidates are banking on as the field continues to stay fairly crowded. It appears as if no presidential hopeful will be dropping out following this Super Tuesday, no matter how well the the two big winners of this important political event may have fared.