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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Republican primary voters want Haley to drop out

Given that Haley almost certainly wins Vermont (though whether she clears 50% and takes all the delegates is yet to be seen), she may be less likely to drop out of the race. But most Republican primary voters would rather see her move on: according to a February poll by Emerson College Polling, 56 percent of likely Republican primary voters nationwide say that Haley should drop out of the race for the Republican nomination. Thirty-one percent say she should stay in, and 13 percent are not sure.

—Mary Radcliffe, 538


Arkansas State Supreme Court results

In Arkansas, Justice Courtney Hudson won a race for position 2 on the state Supreme Court. She currently holds position 3, but ran for the vacant position 2 because of complicated judicial retirement rules. Her win will leave her current seat vacant, which will give Sanders the opportunity to appoint a replacement for the rest of the term. There is also a 4-way race for the chief justice spot, but if no candidate wins a majority tonight, the top two will head on to a runoff in November.

—Monica Potts, 538


Tight race in North Carolina’s 10th District

With nearly all expected votes counted in the Republican primary for North Carolina’s 10th District, it’s a tight race between moderate Pat Harrigan, who has 41 percent of the vote, and conservative Grey Mills, who has 39 percent. Whoever wins will be heavily favored to win the general election in this dark-red seat, which is open because Rep. Patrick McHenry is retiring.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538


Will the VIEWPAC-endorsed candidate win in Alabama's 2nd District?

In the Republican primary, attorney Caroleene Dobson is trailing businessman Dick Brewbaker in Alabama’s 2nd district, with 40 percent of the expected vote reporting. This race is an open primary due to redistricting, where eight Republicans are running for the nomination. Dobson had received an endorsement from VIEWPAC, an organization that formed in 1997 to elect more Republican women to office.

Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor


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