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Super Tuesday by the Numbers

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It’s been more than 24 hours since the Super Tuesday polls closed, but analysts are still sifting through the reams of data to come out of the 22 Democratic and 21 Republican primaries and caucuses. Here’s a quick rundown of the Feb. 5 numbers that matter, drawn from various news sources as well as our own calculators. 

  • Turnout

    27 percent of eligible citizens voted .
    Dems: At least 15,417,521
    GOP: At least     9,181,297
    Source: Time

  • Delegate Count

    After tearing our hair out over how media outlets can’t agree on the post-Super Tuesday delegate count, we’ll go with the Associated Press delegate tracker . It’s super-detailed, updated frequently, and seems to get the most deference from news organizations. Here’s its most recent estimate :  

Dems
Clinton : 832
Obama: 821
Delegates needed for the nomination: 2,025  

GOP
McCain: 698
Romney: 278
Huckabee: 192
Delegates needed for the nomination: 1,191

Meanwhile, Obama’s campaign predicts he will end up with 847 delegates to Clinton’s 834. Clinton’s team has not released a specific prediction.

  • Superdelegate Count
    Total superdelegates: 796
    Supporting Clinton: 213
    Supporting Obama: 139
    Source:  AP

  • State Count (Feb. 5)  

Dems
Clinton : Ariz., Ark., Calif., Mass., N.J., N.M., N.Y., Okla., Tenn. (9 states)
Obama: Ala., Alaska, Colo., Conn., Del., Ga., Idaho, Ill., Kan., Minn., Mo., N.D., Utah (13 states)  

GOP
McCain: Ariz., Calif., Conn., Del., Ill., Mo., N.J., N.Y., Okla. (9 states)
Romney: Alaska, Colo., Mass., Minn., Mont., N.D., Utah (7 states)
Huckabee: Ala., Ark., Ga., Tenn., W.Va. (5 states)
Source: CNN

  • Caucus Count (Feb. 5)  

Clinton : 1 (American Samoa)
Obama: 7 (Alaska, Colo., Idaho, Kan., Minn., Mont., N.D.)

Huckabee: 0
McCain: 0
Romney: 5 (Alaska, Col., Minn., Mont., N.D.)

  • Popular Vote  

Dems
Clinton 48.97 percent ( 6,967,302)
Obama 48.04 percent ( 6,835,447)
Difference in terms of actual votes: 131,855
Source: NBC  

GOP

McCain: 43.2 percent (3,657,444)
Romney: 35.5 percent (3,001,607)
Huckabee: 21.4 percent (1,809,404)
Source: Calculated using data from NBC  

  • Relative Turnout

In the 19 states holding both Democratic and Republican primaries and caucuses, more than 14 million people voted for Obama or Clinton. More than 8 million people voted for McCain or Romney or Huckabee. Thus, you could say about 73 percent more Democrats turned out than Republicans.
Source: Time

In Missouri, Democratic turnout beat GOP turnout by 70 percent. In 2000, when the state also held two primaries, the opposite was true: Republican turnout trumped the Dems’ by 56 percent.
Source: HuffPo  

  • Exit Polls

Obama won 82 percent of the black vote; Clinton won 53 percent of whites and 64 percent of Hispanic voters. Clinton and Obama split white men, while Clinton won white women overwhelmingly.

McCain won the majority of self-identified Republican moderates; Romney won 38 percent of self-identified Republican conservatives. Huckabee won 38 percent of evangelical Christians; McCain came in second among these voters, with 30 percent to Romney’s 27 percent.  

Among Republicans who rated the economy as their top concern, McCain won with 42 percent. Clinton beat Obama among voters who said the economy is in poor condition, while Obama won among those who rated the economy good or excellent.

Obama won the youth vote nationwide, with 59 percent of voters under 30, compared with Clinton’s 38 percent. But Clinton won that demographic in California and Massachusetts.

Source: AP