March 1 has arrived and voters will head to the polls this evening in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia.
About one-quarter of the Republican delegates are at stake and about one-fifth of Democratic delegates are at stake, according to The Hill.
Here are five trends we will be watching tonight.
1. The media is turning on Republican candidate Donald Trump — will voters? Headlines in the opinion pages like this one in The Atlantic "Why Liberals Should Vote for Marco Rubio," or CNN's "GOP's Trump revolt: Too little too late?" or The New York Times' "Inside the Clinton Team's Plan to Defeat Donald Trump" are popping up around the web, presenting a more pointed, actionable route against Mr. Trump, who currently leads the Republican race.
2. Republican hopefuls Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Texas) could together block a Trump win. Texas holds 155 delegates and Mr. Trump does not lead in the polls there, according to The New York Times. It is a test for Sen. Cruz, as it is his home state. If Sen. Cruz cannot win Texas, Mr. Trump will have solidified a large lead. Sen. Rubio also presents a challenge — while he does not lead polls in any state, he could take second in many, and experts are pointing to Minnesota as a potential victory for him. Super Tuesday may make it clearer if one of these candidates should drop the race so their voters can unite against Mr. Trump.
3. The Democratic race hinges on minority voters. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is expected to do well with black voters in the South, as she did in South Carolina, according to The New York Times. This is perhaps the biggest threat to her challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
4. Sen. Sanders will likely focus on Massachusetts, Colorado and Minnesota, according to The New York Times. These three states have high populations of white liberals. He is sure to take his home state of Vermont, but will have to close the margins significantly in other states. However, The Hill notes he has plenty of funding to continue to battle it out with Ms. Clinton after March 1.
5. The "surprise" states will be Minnesota, Arkansas and Alaska. According to The Hill, no candidates have spent time or money in Alaska, minimal polling in Minnesota makes it tough to predict and Arkansas is up in the air on the Republican side, though fairly locked in for Ms. Clinton on the Democratic side.
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