Why Trump trial date’s proximity to Super Tuesday is important

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan has set former President Trump’s trial for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results for March 4, one day before Super Tuesday in the 2024 Republican primary.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team requested a Jan. 2 trial date, and Trump’s team asked for a April 2026 trial date.

The date sets up a collision between the Republican frontrunner’s legal woes and one of the most consequential days on the political calendar.  

What is Super Tuesday?

Super Tuesday is slated to take place March 5, 2024.

The day is considered one of the biggest in the election cycle, with voters heading to the polls in over a dozen states and territories including Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, American Samoa, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.

Why is it important? 

While Super Tuesday falls behind some of the critical early primary and caucus states, there is still a lot up for grabs on the contest day.

One-third of all delegates can be won on Super Tuesday, more than any other day on the primary calendar. Candidates and voters could have a good idea of who the party’s eventual nominee is after Super Tuesday due to the large number of delegates at stake.

Though Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada are currently top priorities for the GOP contenders, the candidates have also made visits to Super Tuesday states, underscoring their importance. Many of the candidates have traveled to Texas to visit the southern border, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has made trips to Oklahoma, Alabama and Tennessee.

Many of the the GOP contenders have also spoken at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., which is also the site of the next Republican president debate.  

What does Trump’s trial date mean for Super Tuesday? 

By the time Super Tuesday rolls around in 2024, primary voters will have already chosen their candidates in several key states. However, there might not be a clear indication of who the Republican nominee is until potentially after Super Tuesday. This means that Trump’s trial date could have an impact on the multi-state contest after it kicks off March 4.

Trump’s allies claim that the four indictments against him have only boosted his presidential campaign, pointing to the fundraising boosts the campaign has seen in recent months. Trump’s campaign brought in a whopping $35 million in the second quarter, which came after Trump pleaded not guilty in two different criminal cases. And this week, Trump’s campaign reported raising $7.1 million off of his mug shot in the Georgia case into his efforts to overturn the presidential election in that state.

The enthusiastic support for Trump amid his legal troubles coupled with his double-digit lead in most state and national-level polling suggests that the trial start has the potential to galvanize the GOP base in a number of early primary states. 

However, some Republicans say Trump’s legal troubles could still come back to bite him in the primary. The super PAC backing former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie used Trump’s mug shot in an ad this week, asking voters if they are “Tired of the drama, the distractions, the lies?”

Additionally, an ABC News/Ipsos poll released earlier this month found no bump for Trump among Republicans; 20 percent of Republican voters said Trump should suspend his campaign, while 14 percent said he should have been charged in the federal Jan. 6 case.