Super Tuesday primaries 2024: Trump and Biden dominate, Haley drops out

538 tracked how Trump and Haley did, plus key U.S. House and Senate races.

March 5 was Super Tuesday — the biggest election day of the year until the one in November! With former President Donald Trump projected to win 14 of the day's 15 GOP presidential nominating contests, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announced Wednesday morning that she is suspending her campaign.

It was also the first downballot primary day of 2024, with important contests for Senate, House and governor in states like Alabama, California, North Carolina and Texas.

538 reporters, analysts and contributors broke down the election results as they came in with live updates, analysis and commentary. Read our full live blog below.


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Adding to what Galen said about primary coverage

I certainly don't mean to blame my hardworking friends in the media. The view from academia is that I organized a whole class around the prospect of an exciting primary, cue the sad trombone noise. I agree with what you said, and also think this is sort of an outgrowth of the weirdness of a primary election. Is it a preliminary election with terrible turnout? A party process, but just a fairly open one? It's hard for all of us in the explaining business because it's honestly kind of a confusing thing.

—Julia Azari, 538 contributor


Trump is projected to win Oklahoma

This is not a surprise, but ABC News projects that Trump will win the Republican primary in Oklahoma, based on an analysis of the vote. In the latest polling, he lead by nearly 80 points against Haley.

—Monica Potts, 538


And we have a projected Dem nominee for North Carolina Governor

Josh Stein, the North Carolina attorney general, is projected to be the Democratic nominee for governor. Stein was a state senator for 7 years before running for attorney general. He has twice beat out Republican candidates, and is the first Jewish person to be elected to statewide office in the state. His race against Robinson for governor will be one of the most closely watched come November, because a Republican win would give the GOP a trifecta for the first time since 2016.

—Kaleigh Rogers, 538


Buckhout also has an endorsement from anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List

I'm watching Buckhout for another reason: She has the endorsement of the influential Susan B. Anthony List. The group started out endorsing pro-life women candidates as a kind of counterpart to women-supporting, pro-choice group EMILY'S List, but during the Obama administration also focused on endorsing Republicans against some anti-abortion Democratic women. It was a powerful insider voice against Roe v. Wade, and, since the fall of Roe v. Wade, has called for a national 15-week abortion ban. Democrats will run in November telling voters that the right to abortion nationwide is at stake, and abortion is definitely playing a role in Republican primaries across the country. With 22 percent of the expected vote reporting, Buckhout is currently leading with 56 percent of the vote so far.

—Monica Potts, 538


6 downballot races to watch in Texas

The race for Senate in Texas will surely be one of the most closely watched races of the year. There are nine candidates running in the Democratic primary to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, but the front-runner is Rep. Colin Allred, a former NFL player and civil rights attorney who has represented the Dallas area since 2019. Allred has raised the most funds (to the tune of $21 million) and attracted donations from party influencers. The biggest question tonight is whether Allred can pull more than 50 percent of the vote and avoid a May runoff.

There are also a handful of U.S. representatives in Texas with at least some danger of losing their seats tonight, as Jacob covered earlier. Keep your eyes on Houston Democrat Lizzie Fletcher in the 7th District, who is facing a challenger from the left in Pervez Agwan; Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee in the 18th District, whose run for Houston mayor last year destabilized her campaign against former Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards; and Republican Tony Gonzales in the 23rd District, who is facing multiple challengers and may also end up in runoff territory.

And there are some open seats up for grabs, creating hotly contested primary races. In the 12th District around Fort Worth, it's the familiar GOP battle between results-focused conservatism of the old guard versus the firebrand populism of MAGA. State Rep. Craig Goldman represents the establishment candidate, while business owner John O'Shea fills the role of MAGA candidate. In the 26th District, two far-right candidates are leading a slate of 11 to fill the open seat in this deep-red stronghold: Brandon Gill, who heavily promoted his father-in-law, Dinesh D'Souza's, conspiracy-theory-laden film "2000 Mules" on his website, and Southlake Mayor John Huffman. And lastly, with Allred making a play for the Senate, his Dallas-area 32nd District is up for grabs. Ten Democrats are running in the primary, though two in particular seem to be leading the pack: state Rep. Julie Johnson and trauma surgeon Brian Williams.

If you're interested in reading more on these races, check out my full preview from last week. Otherwise, I'll have more on these races and other takeaways from Texas after polls begin to close there at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Kaleigh Rogers, 538