Q: What’s super about Super Tuesday? It appears that too few states are having a primary that day to call it super. Does the number of delegates, the number of potential voters or the population of the states involved put the super in Super Tuesday?
—Lance DeLoach, Thomaston
A: The term Super Tuesday is used to describe the day when the largest number of states are holding either primaries or caucuses.
Georgia is among the 12 states and one territory (American Samoa) that are holding what Politico.com labeled “nominating contests” on March 1.
CBSNews.com called it the “biggest day of the 2016 primary season.”
There are 595 Republican delegates and 865 Democratic delegates available on Super Tuesday.
That’s nearly half of the 1,237 needed for the Republican nomination and about 33 percent of the 2,383 needed for the Democrats, the Associated Press reported.
“No other primary day has as many delegates grouped at once, and thus no other day gives a single candidate as much of a chance to declare a sense of certainty about his or her position,” Politico.com wrote.
Super Tuesday officially began in 1988, when nine primaries were held in primarily Southern states on March 8.
There were previous references to Super Tuesday, including in 1976, when the California, Ohio and New Jersey held their primaries on the same day.
The were 24 state primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5, 2008, the largest Super Tuesday.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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