News

The Republican Runner Is Still Leading

by Erin Corbett

Donald Trump has dominated the Republican primaries, and he racked up a few more wins on Super Tuesday 2. The GOP held primaries in Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, and Mississippi on March 8, and now that all the polls have closed, Trump has won Michigan, Mississippi, and Hawaii, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took Idaho. With four more states down, how many delegates did Donald Trump win on Super Tuesday 2?

There were a total of 150 delegates — compared to last week's 285 — at stake on Super Tuesday 2 for the Republican candidates, and the frontrunner won at least 59 of those delegates. As of early Wednesday morning, Hawaii, which has 19 delegates up for grabs, had yet to officially dish out its numbers. Trump has led the primary contests since they began in Iowa, and is still at the top with a total of 446, followed by Cruz, who has 347. Cruz is catching up to Trump's previously unstoppable campaign, though.

With 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination, Trump still has a ways to go before securing that spot. Being so far behind, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich will likely drop out before the Party's convention in Cleveland this summer. That would leave the 205 delegates currently in their banks up for grabs between Trump and Cruz.

Although Trump has a firm hold on the primaries, with 14 states under his belt so far, his successes slowed a bit over the weekend, with losses in Kansas and Maine, a narrow win in Kentucky, and a tie with Cruz in Louisiana. The next GOP primaries candidates are on Saturday, March 12 in Guam and Washington, D.C. — with a total 28 delegates at stake between them — followed by another Super Tuesday on March 15, held in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Northern Mariana Islands, and Ohio.

There will be a total of 367 Republican delegates up for grabs on March 15, proving it another big day for the the party. Kasich and Rubio will likely stick around until then to see how they do in their home states of Ohio and Florida. However, it will be an important in determining who might continue making progress moving forward, and whether Trump is indeed a shoo-in for the Republican nomination.