Much at stake for Democratic hopefuls on Super Tuesday

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The four remaining major Democratic hopefuls will seek to make a definitive statement come Super Tuesday, the most pivotal day in the months-long campaign season.

Roughly one-third of all delegates nationwide will be up for grabs in 14 states spanning the breadth of the continental U.S., and American Samoa. Democrats outside of the U.S. will also be able to begin casting their ballots in a separate contest that will run through the following Tuesday.

Much is on the line for Democrats seeking their party's nominations as they seek to either maintain their momentum or break out from an electoral lull. And one candidate -- former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- has held off from participating in the prior four contests in the hopes of making a big splash on Super Tuesday.

The contests Bloomberg opted to skip -- Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina -- hold just 4% of total delegates, and are mostly contested early on to show a campaign's viability and build electoral momentum.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has taken the early lead, winning or virtually tying in three of the four races, but he holds just a slight delegate lead over former Vice President Joe Biden after he secured a badly-needed victory in South Carolina over the weekend when he took nearly 50% of the southern state's Democratic vote with strong support from black voters.

A candidate needs 1,991 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. Sanders currently holds 60 to Biden's 53. Elizabeth Warren, the progressive senator from Massachusetts, lags behind with eight. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who held seven delegates, dropped out from the race less than 24 hours before polls opened on Super Tuesday, throwing her support behind Biden.

But with Tuesday's contests holding a potentially-decisive number of delegates, and with Bloomberg just now competing, anything is possible. Both Warren's and Sanders' home states will hold contests on Super Tuesday, squaring up potential wins for the candidates, or a decisive defeat that could spell death a knell for Warren's campaign.

Recent polling shows Warren and Sanders in a virtual dead-heat in Massachusetts. Should Warren lose on her home turf that would not bode well for her campaign's future.

The past may very well be mere prologue for Sanders, but the Independent senator is hoping to build upon his prior success among Latino Democrats, this time in Texas and California -- Super Tuesday's largest prizes, both of which boast significant Hispanic populations.

Results will begin rolling in around 7 p.m. Eastern Time (0000 GMT) when polls close in Virginia and Vermont. California will be the last state to wrap up its contest when polls close at 11 p.m. Western Time (0700 GMT), but results for the state of 40 million could drag into the next couple of days with mail-in ballots accepted up until the following Friday.

California holds more delegates that any other state with 415, and a poll released Friday by the Los Angeles Times indicated Sanders holds a 2-1 advantage over his nearest peer, Warren, who polled at 17%.

Republicans will also hold contests on Super Tuesday, but U.S. President Donald Trump does not face any serious challengers.