By Britt Nelson

Both former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, and billionaire Republican real estate developer Donald J. Trump won Super Tuesday primary elections — each taking seven states and each taking the majority of voting delegates to their party’s conventions coming up in July.

 

Clinton won in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Texas and Virginia while Trump scored in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Massachusetts, Vermont, Arkansas and Virginia.

Support from black voters in southern states pushed Clinton to victory while angry, anti-establishment voters backed Trump.

 

Democrat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won four contests in Vermont, Oklahoma, Colorado and Minnesota.  

 

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz did better than expected winning three Republican contests, including his home state, Oklahoma and Alaska. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio scored one victory in Minnesota, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Dr. Ben Carson won no states.

 

To date, Clinton has won 1,001 delegates. She needs to win a majority of 4,132 available delegates. Sanders has in his corner, 371 delegates. Trump has gathered up 285 delegates, needing a majority of 2,340 Republican delegates to win his party’s nomination. Cruz has 161 delegates, Rubio has 87 and Kasich 25.

 

The surprise of the March 1 Super Tuesday was Trump winning in Massachusetts, a long-held Democratic stronghold — home of the Kennedy family political dynasty.

 

But the biggest surprise — occurring just days before SuperTuesday — was the defiant resignation of Democratic National Committee vice-chair Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, so she could endorse Sanders over Clinton, a risky move certain to put her on Clinton’s short list of enemies.

 

Gabbard, 34 and a Hindu, is not small potatoes. Born in American Samoa, a tiny island in the South Pacific but it’s also a U.S. territory making her a U.S. citizen. She was one of the first female U.S. Army combat soldiers serving two tours in Iraq as an officer and now holding a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she is the only Hindu.

 

It’s a good bet Gabbard may be named by Sanders as his vice-presidential running mate.

 

According to a New York Times story, Gabbard had been unhappy with the DNC for months over the debate schedule for Democrats and other issues. As a veteran, she believes Sanders would be a ‘wiser’ commander-in-chief instead of Clinton.

 

It’s also a safe bet that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may soon be named as Trump’s vice-presidential pick. Christie endorsed Trump last week and has appeared at political rallies at Trump’s side.

 

For the most part, only registered Democrats and registered Republicans vote in primaries and caucuses, leaving Independent voters out of the process until the general election Nov. 8, 2016.

Out of all registered voters, according to Gallup and NBC News polls, 45 percent identify as Independent with Democrats at 32 percent and Republicans at 23 percent. These numbers mean American voters are fleeing the established political parties in record numbers.

 

Both Democrats and Republicans must court Independent votes in a large way, because they will hold the key to winning the presidency in November.

 

Between now and March 15, Republicans will hold debates onMarch 3 and March 10. Meanwhile, one Democratic debate is set for March 9.

 

Some 14 primaries and caucuses are scheduled before March 15, mostly in small states and U.S. territories.

 

There is no doubt that politics at the presidential level — at this point forward — gets confusing with which candidates hold the most delegates and or super delegates in the Republican and Democratic parties.

 

There is no doubt that Clinton will debate as little as possible. She still has a pending FBI criminal investigation in progress involving her use of a private email server which apparently exposed sensitive national security information. She may yet be indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice, which would put the Democrats into chaos.

 

There is no doubt that Trump will continue his rise among anti-establishment voters and he should score better than Clinton with Independent votes. Those establishment Republicans trying to stop the Trump train will continue to try to derail him.

 

There is no doubt that after March 15 – when the delegate rich states of Ohio and Florida will hold primary elections– Cruz, Rubio, Kasich and Carson will bow out of the race. Sanders may have to go as well.

 

Each party’s nominee will be known by March 16 and it looks increasing like Clinton and Trump.

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.