‘Final Tuesday’ Is Here

The Associated Press—with a number of media outlets following their lead—has determined Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will be the major parties’ presidential nominees in the November general election.

Those declarations were based on the assumption that unbound delegates in either party—who will remain free to vote for whomever they want—will vote as they have indicated to the media. But on “Final Tuesday,” both candidates had the ability to lock in those nominations by accumulating the necessary bound delegates.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has 1,764 hard-pledged delegates, and there were 676 pledged delegates up for grabs. She needs a total of 2,383 delegates to win the nomination.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump has 1,138 hard-bound delegates, and there are 303 delegates—the overwhelming majority of which are awarded in a winner-take-all fashion—up for grabs. He needs a total of 1,237 delegates to win the nomination.

Here’s a rundown of the seven states that are voting on Final Tuesday, in chronological order:

8 p.m. EDT: New Jersey

Republicans and Democrats were headed to the polls. For Democrats, there were 126 pledged delegates and 16 superdelegates, awarded proportionately with a 15-percent minimum threshold, at the statewide and “delegate district” (each is a pairing of two legislative districts) levels. For the GOP, there were 51 delegates, awarded in a winner-take-all fashion.

9 p.m. EDT: New Mexico and South Dakota

In both states, Republicans and Democrats were headed to the polls.

New Mexico—For Democrats, there were 34 pledged delegates and 9 superdelegates, awarded proportionately with a 15-percent minimum threshold at the statewide and congressional district levels. For the GOP, there were 24 delegates, awarded proportionately with a 15-percent minimum threshold.

South Dakota—For Democrats, there were 20 pledged delegates and 5 superdelegates, awarded proportionately with a 15-percent minimum threshold at the statewide level (it has only one congressional district). For the GOP, there were 29 delegates, awarded in a winner-take-all fashion.

10 p.m. EDT: Montana

Republicans and Democrats were headed to the polls. For Democrats, there were 21 pledged delegates and six superdelegates, awarded proportionately with a 15-percent minimum threshold at the statewide and district levels (the state is still divided into two “districts” like it was when Montana had two congressional districts). For the GOP, there were 27 delegates, awarded in a winner-take-all fashion.

11 p.m. EDT: California

Republicans and Democrats were headed to the polls. For Democrats, there were 475 pledged delegates and 75 superdelegates, awarded proportionately with a 15 percent minimum threshold, at the statewide and district levels. For Republicans, there were 172 delegates awarded on a winner-take-all basis at the statewide (13 delegates) and district (53 with three delegates each) levels.

Other Elections

Most of the Final Tuesday states are holding their primaries for state and federal offices, as well. There will be a number of other states holding state and federal primaries that already held their presidential primaries and caucuses.

These include:

• North Carolina (7:30 p.m. EDT)—House of Representatives only,
• Ohio (7:30 p.m. EDT)—special election to fill the vacancy created by former Speaker of House John Boehner’s resignation, and
• Iowa (10 p.m. EDT)—party primaries for all statehouse and federal offices up for election in November.