This election cycle’s Super Tuesday was eventful. Nikki Haley exited the race Wednesday morning after Donald J. Trump prevailed in 14 out of the 15 states voting on Super Tuesday. According to The Associated Press, Trump received 73.9% of the votes and Haley garnered support from  23.3% of voters. With Trump’s final opponent for the GOP presidential nomination exiting, the election is shaping up to be a Trump-Biden rematch. The main question remains: Which direction will Haley’s voters swing in November? Haley has not endorsed Trump as of late, and her supporters tend to dislike Trump, so there is a possibility that some may vote for Biden or potentially sit out of the election entirely.  

It was an action-packed night for California as well. The race for Dianne Feinstein’s U.S. Senate seat ended with two advancing to the November general election: Steve Garvey, a Republican and former professional baseball player, and Adam Schiff, a Democrat and lead prosecutor in Trump’s impeachment trial. Harvey’s win breaks the GOP’s inability to advance a Republican candidate to the general election in two of California’s last three U.S. Senate races. Still, a Republican has not won in this spot since 1988, so it’s looking unlikely for a Garvey victory come November. 

Moreover, California voted yes on Proposition 1, providing $6.38 billion in new bonds to build more mental health and substance abuse treatment centers as well as more housing for unhoused citizens. This means the state is borrowing this money from citizens who purchase bonds and is then repaying that money to their investors with interest over time. Proposition 1 was the only proposition voted on in this primary. The goal of this proposition is to be a stepping stone in tackling the homelessness crisis in California, and its relation to mental health issues.

Democratic Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón also faced 11 challengers last night in his bid for reelection, but he is on top so far after having garnered 21.4% of the votes. Gascón is the leader of an agency that prosecutes criminal cases and other issues on behalf of the county of Los Angeles. Incumbent Gascón’s main opponent last night was Nathan Hochman, a one-time attorney general Republican candidate in 2022, who has been targeting Gascón based on voters’ anger over increasing crime and homelessness in Los Angeles, according to The Associated Press. Hochman has currently received 17.7% of the votes. It is still too early to know who will advance to the runoff in November, and no one has enough votes to win the primary outright. 

For certain Marlborough seniors who have already turned 18, Super Tuesday was the first election in which they could participate. Many sent in their mail-in ballots in advance of Super Tuesday, but some went to the polls to vote in person for the first time. Oona ‘24 voted with her mother last night at Los Angeles High School, and she is eager to continue voting throughout the 2024 election season. 

“It felt inspiring to be an active participant in this democracy,” Oona said. “It’s up to us, it’s our civic duty.”