Recap of Political Science Super Tuesday Election Event
March 5, 2020
The Political Science department hosted a Super Tuesday election event to watch and discuss the poll results across the country.
Professor Rebecca Eissler hosted the viewing including analysis from Professor Marcela García-Castañon, Francis Neely, Ron Hayduk, and Nick Conway.
Biden wins Virginia and Sanders wins Vermont at 4:04 p.m.
The viewing started at 5 p.m. and the room was set up with rows of chairs towards the television screen. The rows of people were not just political science major students but also from other departments.
Biden wins North Carolina at 4:40 p.m.
Dylan Artunian, a political science major in his junior year, grabbed a seat in the back row during the first hour of the Super Tuesday viewing.
“I’d like to see Sanders win. It seems doable but it’s definitely going to be a competition with Joe Biden,” Artunian said.
CNN was the news source of choice during the viewing and had everyone at the edge of their seats as results continued to pop-up on the screen.
Biden wins Tennessee at 6:15 p.m.
The polls were still covering the South and the expectation of Biden winning this region of the country was expected. According to CNN’s exit poll, Joe Biden beat Sanders by 45% in Virginia for the African-American vote.
Anayvette Lopez is a merchandising major who joined the viewing to witness the polls and get voting feedback from political science professors.
“I don’t know how it’s gonna turn out and I’m kind of scared because I’m a Bernie voter and it’s not looking as good as I thought. I think it’s my fault for making assumptions,” Lopez said.
In between reporting by CNN, professors gave feedback on certain issues pertaining to voting rights. Professor Ron Hayduk has specialized in American politics and gave a perspective on non-voters in this country.
“There are some exceptions and I think that you know Bernie Sanders, for example, has explicitly said we have to appeal to the folks who feel left behind who are not mobilized and energized,” Hayduk said.
Sanders wins Utah at 7 p.m.
Everyone cheered for the results. It was not a surprise that the majority of students were in support of Sanders. The exit poll conducted on campus at the Towers Conference Center resulted in 90.7% of students who voted for Bernie Sanders.
Biden wins Virginia at 7:17 p.m.
Although Utah was a victory for Sanders, Joe Biden was ahead of the polls winning Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Biden wins Minnesota at 7:41 p.m.
The room started to clear-up and the chatter became minimal. It was unknown whether the intensity was keeping people quiet or if the hope vanished.
Sanders wins Colorado at 8:05 p.m.
It was then up to Texas to decide if Bernie Sanders would win a primarily red state with the Latino vote.
Political Science seniors Hannah Galindo and Jorge Uorrez sat amongst their professors watching in suspense.
“So in my opinion, the question is turnout, like, whatever happens in Texas, like, the higher the number of people that turn out, the higher the likelihood of Bernie winning is going to be,” Jorge Uorrez explained his prediction.
Uorrez is part of the Latino community and feels that Bernie touches upon issues that affect them such as economic inequality and Medicare.
“…So I feel like if it’s relatively high, Bernie is for sure gonna win, especially because he’s been organizing the Latino community in Southeast Texas heavily in the past few months”, Uorrez said.
Biden wins Massachusetts at 8:20 p.m.
Hannah Galindo is originally from Fresno and understands what it’s like to live in a predominantly red state.
“I thought Bernie had a lot of momentum going for him. But the polls are showing a lot otherwise. And Texas is generally kind of a red state,” Galindo said.
Biden wins Texas at 11 p.m.
Students and professors were drawn to the screen to see the final result with their jaws dropped. Galindo pointed out the percentage of delegates being presented by CNN.
“Even though it is a big city population, and with that comes a lot of good minority votes and like potential for blue. But right now it’s looking about 24% to 29%,” Galindo said.
The 2020 Super Tuesday results for Biden were 399 delegates, Sanders 322 delegates, Bloomberg 44, and Warren 42 delegates.