I always felt Super Tuesday needed a mascot. And, that is my first point of clarification. I am talking about the primary election day…nothing to do with the ESPN television series.

We first heard the term in 1984 when Walter Mondale and Gary Hart vied for the nomination. In fact, we had three of them that year. I won’t go into the detail about what each candidate said. Sufficient to say in the end, Walter Mondale only won the electoral votes that November in Minnesota and in DC. [Please note Wikipedia states the term was really used in 1976.]

So what is it? Super Tuesday refers to the day in a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to the national conventions.

• 1984—five states were involved which helped bring the nomination to Democrat Walter Mondale;
• 1988 – nine states held primary elections on March 8, 1988 and the votes were split between Democrats Dick Gephardt, Jesse Jackson, Al Gore, and Michael Dukakis with the latter eventually being nominated;
• 1992 – The March 10, 1992 election brought Democrat Bill Clinton into the national spotlight;
• 1996 – March 12, 1996 included nine states and secured Republican Bob Dole’s bid;
• 2000 – 16 states participated in the March 7, 2000 election;
• 2004 – Fewer states participated on February 3, 2004, and there were only five states with primaries and two caucuses;
• 2008 – Only four states held primary elections on March 4, 2008, but 24 had moved their own primary election up to February 5, 2008 so it ended up being called Super Duper Tuesday;
• 2012 – 10 states held primary elections on March 6, 2012; and
• 2016 – We will have 13 states involved in the March 1, 2016 date.

This column is not going to support any candidates. However, it is going to emphasize the importance of voting whenever your state has scheduled those dates. All those election dates are on our website, www.stateandfed.com.

On Tuesday, March 15 the staff of State and Federal Communications are offered one hour at the beginning of the day to vote before arriving to work. Until next month, remember to VOTE, plan for it so you do not forget or end up out of town, and encourage friends and family to do so.

Thank you.

Elizabeth Z. Bartz

President and CEO
@elizabethbartz