While most states hold elections on Tuesdays, Saturdays have also been a traditional election date as we have already seen this year with the Nevada Caucuses and South Carolina primary.  In past years, the first two Saturdays after the windows open have been somewhat busy.  In 2016, three states held primaries or caucuses on the first Saturday in March (with one contest being held on the first Sunday in March and one contest being held on the second Saturday in March).  While the first Saturday in March was not an available date in 2012, the Republicans had four caucuses on the second Saturday in March.  On the first available weekend in February 2008, four caucuses and one primary took place.

This year, the weekend after Super Tuesday had no contests, and only one contest is scheduled for the second weekend in March.  That contest is the Northern Marianas which will hold its convention on March 14.  The Northern Marianas is an “unincorporated territory” consisting of the islands in the Marianas Archipelego (excluding Guam).  The contest in the Northern Marianas is a territory-wide convention.  In 2016, less than 200 people attended the convention.

This is only the second time that the people in Northern Marianas will be electing delegates to the national convention.  My hunch is that, even though every delegate counts, the major candidates are unlikely to put much effort into this contest, and the vote will be based on what news media and social media coverage Democrats in that territory have seen.  In other words, name recognition and success in the earlier contests will count for a lot. Continue Reading...