Super Tuesday lived up to its name on Feb. 5, with voters turning out in record numbers in over 24 states across the country to vote in the presidential primaries.
At Stony Brook, the results were quite clear immediately. Polling done by the Statesman Monday night of 138 random students suggested that Barack Obama was heavily favored to win polling place #223, the Student Activities Center at Stony Brook.
The poll also indicated that a number of students were not registered on campus and had to either vote at home, cast an absentee ballot, or not vote at all.
At Stony Brook on Tuesday, Barack Obama took about 56% of the total number of votes cast, followed by Hillary Clinton at 32% and John McCain at a little over 4%.
There were 429 voters who turned out to vote in the Student Activities Center (SAC), a small portion of the estimated 3,500 students who are registered to vote at Stony Brook.
Of those 429 voters, Democrats accounted for 384 of them compared to 45 Republicans. Obama secured 239 votes to Clinton’s 138, while McCain led Republican candidates with 20 votes.
The low turnout could have been the result of several factors. For one, New York held a closed election, meaning that voters must be a registered Democrat or Republican in order to vote in the primaries for either party. Additionally, registered independents are not allowed to vote in New York primaries.
Also, since Stony Brook is such a large commuter school, many students are registered to vote in their hometowns.
The turnout compares favorably, however, to the last presidential primary in 2004, when fewer than 200 people voted.
Other Republican candidates who secured some votes were Mitt Romney, former governer of Massachusetts, with 8 votes, Mike Huckabee, governor of Arkansas, with 6 votes and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas with 7 votes.
One-time candidates John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani each received 4 votes despite ending their campaigns in the last few weeks.
Nationally, the results as of printing are much less clear even 24 hours after polls closed across the country.
But some results are evident. John McCain was victorious in the much sought after California primaries, and he won more states and more delegates than his Republican rivals.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each declared victory. Clinton won the popular vote by roughly 50,000 votes nationwide, while Obama won more states (13) than any other candidate. The exact number of delegates won remains uncertain, but the difference will be miniscule. Democratic strategist Tad Devine gave the slight edge to Obama in the delegate count.
Candidates are competing for delegates, representatives from each state who cast a vote for one candidate or another at the Democratic National Convention, held this year in Denver. These delegates vote based on how the state population voted at primaries and caucuses that have been held over the past month.
In order to secure the nomination, Democratic candidates must receive 2,025 votes, Republicans 1,191.
Pundits all predicted the Democratic race to be in roughly the same spot it was in before Super Tuesday: a two person race that looks more and more like it will go down to the wire.
Days before Super Tuesday, the Obama campaign released fundraising figures for the month of January, with Obama raising an astounding $32 million dollars. In comparison, Clinton raised $13 million.
Those figures will play a key role in what has come to be known as a “battle of attrition” between Obama and Clinton in the remaining primaries. Obama clearly has the funds to use in states like Virginia, Texas, and Ohio, who go to the polls in the next month.
