High Union Turnout in Super Tuesday Primaries

Union members turned out in big numbers in yesterday’s Super Tuesday 23-state primary election. According to exit polls in California, union households made up 32 percent of the vote in the nation’s most populous state. Union voters made up 33 percent of the vote in Connecticut, 30 percent in Delaware, 38 percent in Illinois, 27 percent in Massachusetts, 27 percent in Missouri, 35 percent in New Jersey and 40 percent in New York.

CNN noted that Super Tuesday saw a record-breaking turnout in Democratic primaries and caucuses.

The difference in party rules will play a key role in who ultimately wins the nomination. In the Republican primaries, the winner takes all delegates in a state. In the Democratic primaries, delegates are apportioned through various combinations that allot delegates based on the percentage of the vote statewide and assignment based on victories in congressional districts.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won eight states, including the largest states, California and New York. Sen. Barack Obama won in 13 states.

Sen. John McCain won victories in the most states—nine—and because of the winner-take-all rules, now has garnered the overwhelming number of delegates, although delegate counts for all candidates still are pending. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee won five states in the South.

02-06