"Super Tuesday 2" could be the deciding day of the US election race

The political atmosphere in the United States continues to heat up this week as potential presidential candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties conduct primary elections on “Super Tuesday 2” (March 15) to compete for the sole ticket representing each party in the presidential election in early November.

Republican candidates at the 12th debate in Miami. (Source: AFP/VNA)

According to VNA correspondent in the US, on "Super Tuesday 2," all 5 US states simultaneously advanced to primary elections.

North Carolina and Ohio were the first places to vote, while Florida, Illinois and Missouri opened shortly after and lasted until 8 p.m. local time (March 16 morning, Vietnam time).

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hopes to win a maximum of 691 delegates on “Super Tuesday 2” to widen the gap with her rival Bernie Sanders, thereby affirming her position as the number one candidate of the Democratic Party.

Currently, Mrs. Clinton has 1,235 delegates, while Mr. Sanders has only 580. With twice as many votes as now, if Mrs. Clinton wins a convincing result on March 15, the chance for Mr. Sanders to narrow the gap and turn the tables is very low.

However, exit polls show that Mr. Sanders is also closely following Mrs. Clinton, especially in the three states of Missouri, Illinois and Ohio.

A Democratic candidate needs to win at least 2,382 delegates to secure the sole ticket representing the “Donkeys” (the Democratic Party’s nickname) in the 2016 race for the White House.

However, the focus of the “Super Tuesday 2” election day is on the competition on the side of the “Elephants” (the nickname of the Republican Party).

On March 15, which the Republicans consider “Big Tuesday” or “Judgment Day,” a total of 350 delegate votes will be decided, including two states that apply the “winner-takes-all” vote counting rule with a large number of delegate votes: Florida (99 votes) and Ohio (66 votes).

Billionaire Donald Trump is waiting for this to be an opportunity for him to affirm his position as the number one candidate and widen the gap with his opponents behind.

Mr. Trump currently holds 460 delegates, followed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz with 370 votes, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich holding 163 and 63 votes respectively.

A Republican candidate needs to win 1,237 delegates to be elected as the party's presidential nominee.

Analysts say the "Super Tuesday 2" election day will probably be the last chance for Mr. Rubio and Mr. Kasich.

If these two candidates do not win their home states of Florida and Ohio, they will almost certainly end their efforts to run for the White House.

Exit polls show Donald Trump holding a slight advantage in Senator Rubio’s home state of Florida. However, John Kasich is temporarily leading in the primary election in his home state of Ohio.

The final vote counting results are expected to be announced before midnight on March 15 local time (noon on March 16 Vietnam time)./.

According to Vietnamplus