Your ultimate guide to the biggest day of the primary election
- 15 states are holding their Republican presidential primary elections on Tuesday
- There are 865 GOP delegates at stake in the concurrent elections
- The day represents Nikki Haley’s likely final shot to beat Donald Trump
ALABAMA
Delegate Count: 50 – winner take most
Voting hours on Election Day: 7am to 7pm
Early in-person voting?: No
Open/Closed primary election?: Open. Voters can choose which party’s ballot they wish to vote in. This decision does not register the voter with a political party.
Polling: A Morning Consult poll taken January 23-February 4 of likely voters in Alabama puts Trump a commanding 75 percent ahead of Haley (87 percent to 12 percent).
A deep red state in Trump country, Alabama is likely to have all their delegates go to the former president.
ALASKA
Delegate Count: 29 – proportional
Voting hours on Election Day: 7am to 8pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, 15 days before Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: Alaska uses a pick-one primary election. It means all candidates, regardless of party, appear on a single ballot and voters choose one. The top four candidates who earn the most number of votes move onto the general election.
Polling: There appears to be no readily available polling for the presidential primary election in Alaska. But hypothetical general election match-ups from Alaska Survey Research conducted in October 2023 put Trump 8 percentage points ahead of President Joe Biden.
ARKANSAS
Delegate Count: 40 – winner take most
Voting hours on Election Day: 7:30am to 7:30pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, 15 days before Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: Open. Voters can choose which party’s ballot they wish to vote in. It does not register the voter with a particular political party.
Polling: There appears to be no readily available polling for the presidential primary between Trump and Haley in Arkansas. A poll from Echelon Insights in September 2023 put Trump 29 percentage points ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was still in the primary race at the time.
CALIFORNIA
Delegate Count: 169 – winner take most, unless a 50 percent threshold is reached, then it’s winner take all.
Voting hours on Election Day: 7am to 8pm
Early in-person voting? Yes, 29 days before Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: California is a top two primary state, meaning all candidates are listed on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation.
Polling: Trump is 54.2 percentage points ahead of Haley in California (73.1 percent to 18.9 percent), according to FiveThirtyEight’s average of the state’s primary election surveys.
The largest blue state in the country, California has the most number of delegates to allocate in both the Republican and Democratic primary elections.
COLORADO
Delegate Count: 37 – winner take most
Voting hours on Election Day: 7am to 7pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, 15 days before Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: Hybrid. If registered, voters must cast their ballot in their party’s primary. But unaffiliated voters can vote for whichever ballot they choose in the primary – but only one.
Polling: There appears to be no readily available polling for the presidential primary between Trump and Haley in Colorado. There are several polls for a general matchup between Trump and Biden that put that president a handful of points ahead of his predecessor.
MAINE
Delegate Count: 20 – winner take most
Voting hours on Election Day: 6am to 8pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, as soon as absentee ballots are ready, which is usually 30-45 days before Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: Hybrid. If registered, voters must cast their ballot in their party’s primary. But unaffiliated voters can vote in whichever party’s primary they choose – but only one of them.
Polling: A February 15-19 poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center shows Trump 58 percentage points ahead of Haley in Maine (77 percent to 19 percent).
In Maine, Trump’s name will appear on the ballot despite an attempt by Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to remove it.
MASSACHUSETTS
Delegate Count: 40 – winner takes most
Voting hours on Election Day: 7am to 8pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, 10 days before primary Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: Hybrid. If registered, voters must cast their ballot in their party’s primary. But unenrolled voters can choose which party’s primary to take part in.
Polling: Trump is ahead of Haley by 36.2 percentage points in a FiveThirtyEight average of polling in Massachusetts. The latest taken February 3-6 by Advantage Inc./Fiscal Alliance Foundation has Trump with 65 percent to Haley’s 22 percent – a 43 percent margin.
Massachusetts and Vermont are among the few states where Haley hopes she can pick up some more delegates on Super Tuesday.
MINNESOTA
Delegate Count: 39 – winner take all
Voting hours on Election Day: 7am to 8pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, absentee voting 46 days before Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: Open. Voters can choose which party’s primary they wish to vote in. It does not register the voter with a particular political party.
Polling: A survey conducted January 24-29 by SurveyUSA in Minnesota shows Trump 62 percentage points ahead of Haley (76 percent to 14 percent).
NORTH CAROLINA
Delegate Count: 74 – proportional
Voting hours on Election Day: 6:30am to 7:30pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, third Thursday before Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: Partially closed. Each party can choose whether to allow unaffiliated voters to vote in their primary. This year, unaffiliated voters may choose which party’s ballot to fill out. If none of the candidates earn 30 percent of the vote, there is a primary runoff for a few weeks after the election with the top two candidates.
Polling: Trump is ahead of Haley by 53.6 percent in North Carolina, according to a FiveThirtyEight polling average in the state. The latest poll from Capen Analytics on February 21 shows Trump with 64 percent and Haley with 36 percent in North Carolina – a 28-point margin.
OKLAHOMA
Delegate Count: 43 – winner take most
Voting hours on Election Day: 7am to 7pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, absentee voting the Wednesday preceding Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election? Partially closed. Each party can choose whether to allow unaffiliated voters to vote in their primary in November of each odd-numbered year. Since 2021, Democrats have allowed independents to vote in their primaries, but the Republican and Libertarian parties have not made the same determination. If a candidate does not earn 51 percent of the vote, Oklahoma holds a primary runoff a few weeks later.
Polling: A Morning Consult poll conducted in Oklahoma on January 23 through February 4 puts Trump a whopping 77 percentage points ahead of Haley (88 percent to 11 percent). Previous polling in the state put Trump up against DeSantis.
TENNESSEE
Delegate Count: 58 – winner take most
Voting hours on Election Day: Opening varies by county, but polls close in Eastern time zones at 8pm and Central time zones at 7pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, 20 days before Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: Partially open. Tennessee allows voters to participate in whichever party’s primary they choose when signing in with a poll worker.
Polling: A FiveThirtyEight polling average has Trump 68.6 percentage points ahead of Haley (83.6 percent to 15 percent).
TEXAS
Delegate Count: 161 – winner take most
Voting hours on Election Day: 7am to 7pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, 17 days before Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: Open. Voters can choose which party’s ballot they wish to vote for in each primary election. It does not register the voter with a particular political party. If a candidate does not earn 51 percent of the vote, Texas holds a primary runoff election a few weeks later with the two highest-earning candidates.
Polling: Trump is 69.9 percentage points ahead of Haley in the Lone Star State, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average. The latest survey from YouGov taken February 2-12 shows Trump ahead by 71 points (80 percent to 9 percent).
Texas is the largest red state with the most delegates at stake in the primary election.
UTAH (caucus)
Delegate Count: 40 – winner take most
Voting hours on Election Day: 7am to 8pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, 14 days before election day. *Utah primarily conducts elections by mail.
Open/Closed primary election?: Partially closed. Each party can choose whether to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in their primary.
Polling: A Dan Jones & Associates poll conducted January 16-21 reveals that Trump is ahead of Haley by 27 percentage points among Utah’s registered voters (49 percent to 22 percent).
VERMONT
Delegate Count: 17 – winner take most
Voting hours on Election Day: Opening varies between 5am and 10am and all polling locations close at 7pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, 45 days before Election Day. Vermont primarily conducts elections by mail.
Open/Closed primary election?: Open. Voters can choose which party’s ballot they wish to vote for in each primary election. It does not register the voter with a particular political party. If there is a tie, the candidates go to a primary runoff a few weeks after the election.
Polling: A University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll conducted among likely Republican voters in Vermont from February 15-19 shows 61 percent prefer Trump versus the 31 percent who prefer Haley.
VIRGINIA
Delegate Count: 48 – proportional
Voting hours on Election Day: 6am to 7pm
Early in-person voting?: Yes, 45 days before Election Day.
Open/Closed primary election?: Open. Voters can choose which party’s ballot they wish to vote for in each primary election. It does not register the voter with a particular political party.
Polling: Trump is 63.3 percentage points ahead of Haley in Virginia, according to FiveThirtyEight polling average. A Morning Consult poll has Trump 59 percent ahead of Haley (78 percent to 19 percent).