Puerto Rico moves its Democratic presidential primary to Super Tuesday

“Our presidential primary is moving to Super Tuesday, so our voters are part of the conversation when it truly matters.”

[IMAGE of Luis Davila Pernas (D) addressing a crowd, moving the Democratic presidential primary to Super Tuesday]

Luis Davila Pernas (D) is the chair of the Puerto Rican Democratic Party and a seasoned government affairs practitioner and legal advisor. He decided to move the Puerto Rican Democratic presidential primary to Super Tuesday. But what is Super Tuesday?

Super Tuesday is the day on which the majority of states hold their presidential primaries and caucuses. It is one of the busiest days on the US calendar: millions of voters are expected to cast their ballots.

Doing well on Super Tuesdays can give presidential campaigns a boost, inviting financial contributions and building momentum; however, performing poorly could mean the end of a campaign.

As Pernas described, part of his strategy for moving the presidential primary to Super Tuesday is to get voters to be a part of the conversation and leave them satisfied. 

“My future governor,” a user commented on Pernas’ Instagram post.

Pernas also says that moving the presidential primary to Super Tuesday will lead to early votes. “Early votes, early results.”

More than encouraging voting and financial support, the move to shift the Puerto Rican Presidential Primary is another potential benefit. The winner of Super Tuesday typically goes on to win the nomination. In fact, since 1984, there has been only one Super Tuesday winner who did not become the nominee. Mainly, though, the Instagram post reasons that the motivation for the change of date is to get more voters involved. Voter turnout for Presidential primaries is usually very low. If voting were to happen before Super Tuesday, the decision would have been made by a very small number of voters. By moving the Presidential Primary to Super Tuesday, more voters will be likely to influence the decision of the Puerto Rican Democratic nominee.