Super Tuesday Election Results and the Buzz About Basketball

Good morning readers,

Mateo here. I can’t believe it’s already March! For me, that means I get to look forward to filling out brackets, enjoying this year’s most exciting players, and (hopefully) a few buzzer beaters during March Madness. Some early stages of the madness will commence here in Minneapolis, as over the next couple weeks the Target Center will host the Men’s and (sold out) Women’s Big Ten Tournaments. So if you find yourself asking about traffic, this could be the culprit!

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Big Super Tuesday Outcomes in MN

Super Tuesday is over and the results are in! For the Republican party, Trump easily won with over 69% of the vote in Minnesota. His biggest competition, Nikki Haley, received almost 29% of the vote, but shortcomings across the country led to her dropping out of the race completely on Wednesday. On the Democrat side, Biden also won handily with about 70% of the vote in Minnesota, beating out Minnesota hopeful Dean Phillips, who had a disappointing night, only receiving 8% of the vote, essentially ending his campaign. But fierce competitor “Uncommitted” also showed up to the polls, raking in almost 19% of MN’s democratic vote. The “Uncommitted” movement aims to be a protest vote, with the intent to send a message concerning the displeasure with Biden’s handling of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and warn him that action needs to be taken in order to earn their vote. State Sen. Omar Fateh, a local Democrat, said his “Uncommitted” vote is “a warning to the Biden administration that, unless they are to take immediate and dramatic action to stop Israel from continuing the genocide, they cannot expect the support of progressives.” Other states also felt the impacts of this movement, as it drew over 13% of the vote in Michigan, 8% in Colorado, and 7% in Tennessee, among others. All signs are leading towards a Trump-Biden rematch this fall.

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Sold Out Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis

The Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, being hosted here in Minneapolis, has sold out for the first time in its 31-year history. Women’s college basketball, and specifically the Big Ten conference, has seen immense growth over the past few years. While names of WNBA stars like Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, and A’ja Wilson come to mind when discussing Women’s hoops, a new wave of college hoopers plan to make an even bigger splash. Minnesota native Paige Bueckers, for example, has had an excellent career so far at UCONN, one of the most highly respected programs in the country, and has amassed over 1 million followers on Instagram. Angel Reese, of LSU, is another star who has quickly become a fan favorite after leading LSU to their first basketball national title in 2023, and following it up by taking home the 2023-24 SEC Player of the Year award. Reese has over 2.6 million followers on Instagram. But there is one name that I am sure everyone has heard: Caitlin Clark.

Clark is the most exciting player in college basketball, period. The excitement has translated to successes across the board for women’s basketball, with viewership skyrocketing and increased ticket demand at the forefront. Caitlin Clark is selling out games – a phenomenon that until recently was very difficult to accomplish in women’s basketball. People are paying thousands of dollars to travel and watch her play or are a part of the millions watching on TV. This kind of impact has never been realized before in college basketball, and that was proven even further last Sunday when Clark broke Pete Maravich’s record for career points (held since 1970), enshrining her as college basketball’s all-time leading scorer. That being said, if you have any interest in watching Clark and Iowa play, they play their first game tomorrow, Friday the 8th, at 5:30 PM on BTN, or you can try your luck with buying resale tickets and go to the Target Center to see her play in-person. 

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Playoffs Creeping Closer for Wolves

In some other basketball news, the Minnesota Timberwolves are back in 1st place in the Western conference with 20 games remaining in the regular season. In what has been an incredibly exciting season for the Wolves, they are now only six weeks away from the biggest and most important playoff appearance in their franchise history. As a reminder, the Wolves have been around since 1989, making them technically one of the newest teams in the league. Since their inception, they have had only one real playoff run, and that was in 2004, when the team was led by Hall-of-Famer Kevin Garnett. Since then, the Wolves have only been to the playoffs three total times with two of the three being the last two years. The Wolves have clearly been gaining momentum, and this is the year to prove that they truly belong. They have had unfortunate first round exits over the last two years and anticipate changing their outcome this year.

Some of the NewPrensa team was able to make it out to the Timberwolves game last Monday for Noche Éne-Bé-A. We cheered on the Wolves as they got the win over Portland, and watched as the Wolves honored the Latine community through storytelling and highlighting local talent. Other programming included a chef spotlight, a Mariachi band, a special halftime performance, and more. Look out for our video with a summary of the special night coming soon!

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Stay informed, stay connected. 

See you next week! 

-Mateo, and the NewPrensa team

Hit play on the Spotify icon below for the NewMusica playlist,
a playlist by the NewPrensa team that brings you NewTaste and NewVibes. 

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