BEAUMONT, Texas — It could all come down to Super Tuesday.
Texas joins 13 other states voting in the presidential primary on march 3. 1,357 of the Democrat's 3,979 pledged delegates are up for grabs. 228 of those delegates will come from Texas alone.
"Since Texas is (one of) the biggest battle ground states in the country, we know all eyes are going to be on us," Cliff Walker with the Texas Democratic Party told Inside Texas Politics. We have the second largest delegate prize up for grabs on Super Tuesday, and it's critical that every vote counts."
So how will the 228 delegates be divided?
149 delegates are awarded based on the the results in each of the 31 state Senate districts. A candidate must reach 15% in a district to compete for delegates.
A complex formula will divvy up delegates based on the distribution of votes in each of the 31 state Senate districts.
It's possible that we end election night on Tuesday without a clear allocation of delegates based on the state Senate districts.
"In previous primaries, including the 2016 primary election, delegate allocations for both of Texas’ major parties on election night have been approximate allocations based on data self-reported by the counties," Stephen Chang with the Texas Secretary of State's office told The Texas Tribune. "The delegate allocations will be reported in the same fashion for the March 3rd primary election."
Walker and other democrats have been pushing the Secretary of State to guarantee delegates from the state Senate districts are divvied out on March 3.
"There's been considerable back and forth," Walker said. "They are still communicating how they're going to make that happen. We as a Democratic party will do what is needed to make sure those counts are counted correctly."
Another 79 delegates from Texas are awarded based on the statewide vote. Again, a candidate must get at least 15% statewide to be eligible for the statewide delegates.
Right now, according to the final poll before Super Tuesday, only three democratic candidates may leave election night with statewide delegates.
Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg are the only candidates polling above the 15% threshold statewide.
Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg are close to that number and rising from past polls.
A Democratic organization in Austin called Progress Texas sponsored the poll of 1,045 likely Texas Democratic voters. It was conducted by Public Policy Polling— a reputable polling firm— between Feb. 24 and 25.
“Democratic primary voters are hungry for a fighter who embraces progressive values and will take action on critical issues like health care and climate change,” Ed Espinoza, the executive director of Progress Texas, said in a statement released with the survey. “Candidates have to be for something, these voters are telling us that simply running as ‘not Trump’ is not enough. They want to see candidates take a stand.”
Super Tuesday will be the first time voters will see Michael Bloomberg on the ballot. He's been aggressive in Texas, running political ads for several months.
Warren and Buttigieg have begun running ads in the Beaumont market this week.
"Every single presidential campaign is fighting for every single delegate. We have so many delegates here in Texas that makes us a very attractive prize. It's really exciting that the road to the presidency comes through Texas. Texas voters are being courted like never before," Walker said.
