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  Super Tuesday by the Numbers

  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

  Published Thursday, February 07, 2008 9:42 AM by Christopher Beam
  Email jcbeam@gmail.com

  Filed under: Super Tuesday

About Christopher Beam

• Christopher Beam is a Slate political reporter.