Super Tuesday: NC could elect first black, Jewish governor; MLB great advances in California
North Carolina is on track to elect its first black or Jewish governor, while a former baseball star-turned-Republican politician has advanced in California's U.S. Senate contest.
With eight months to go until Election Day, the general election contests for three major statewide races are beginning to take shape.
While most of the national Super Tuesday coverage focused on presidential primaries, several contests determined which candidates would advance in down-ballot races scheduled to take place simultaneously with the 2024 presidential election.
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Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won all but one of the more than a dozen Super Tuesday presidential primaries and caucuses, cementing their leads as the frontrunners for their respective parties' presidential nominations.
Trump's strong performance prompted his main rival for the Republican nomination, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, to drop out of the race Wednesday. Her move makes it almost certain that Trump will emerge as the Republican presidential nominee.
A handful of states held primary elections for other state and federal races Tuesday.
In North Carolina, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson won the Republican nomination for governor. Unofficial results show Robinson secured 64.8% of the vote, finishing more than 40 points ahead of his nearest rival. If elected, Robinson would become the first African American governor in the state's history.
For the Democrats, Attorney General Josh Stein won his party's nomination for governor in the Tar Heel State. According to unofficial results, Stein beat the second-place finisher by more than 40 points. If elected, Stein would become the state's first Jewish governor. Robinson and Stein cleared the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff and will face off in November.
The most recent poll of the race shows a close contest. A survey of 1,207 registered voters conducted by East Carolina University from Feb. 9-12 found Robinson and Stein tied at 41% support apiece.
Meanwhile, in the California U.S. Senate race, Los Angeles Dodgers great Steve Garvey, a former National League MVP Award winner, advanced to the general election to face longtime Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff.
Since California uses a "top-two" primary system in which the two candidates who receive the highest number of votes in the primary advance to the general election regardless of partisan affiliation, the presence of a Republican candidate in the race was not guaranteed.
While the final vote count remains unknown, Garvey, a Republican, and Schiff have advanced to the general election. Reps. Barbara Lee and Katie Porter, the two other prominent Democrats in the race to fill the seat held by longtime Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., until her death last year, finished far behind the two frontrunners.
According to unofficial results, Schiff captured 33.2% of the vote, while Garvey won 32.4%. Porter is in a distant third at 13.8%, followed by Lee at 7.4%.
Schiff is expected to win easily in the general election, given California's deep blue tilt in federal elections. A poll of 6,534 registered voters conducted by the Los Angeles Times and the University of California at Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies between Feb. 22 and 27 shows Schiff capturing 53% of the vote and Garvey winning 38% of the vote in a head-to-head matchup.
In Texas, Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, won the Democratic Senate nomination. His victory sets him up for a general election matchup against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is seeking a third term in office. The RealClearPolitics average of polls taken between Jan. 13 and Feb. 12 shows Cruz beating Allred by 8 percentage points.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
