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Diverse California Holds Big Super Tuesday Prize for Democratic Presidential
Candidates

Michelle Quinn

   SAN FRANCISCO - As voters head to the polls on Super Tuesday, the day
   when residents in 14 states weigh in on who will run for U.S.
   president, all eyes will be on California, the biggest prize.

   For the first time in years, California voters matter in the primary
   stage of the presidential election. The state primary -- with 415
   pledged delegates at stake or 20 percent of the total needed to lock up
   the nomination - was moved up from June to March 3. And with a
   still-crowded field of Democratic contenders, Californians have been
   wooed like never before.

   The Golden State has become a proving ground for both former New York
   mayor Mike Bloomberg and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, said Mark
   Baldassare, president and the survey director at the Public Policy
   Institute of California."

   The state of California is a perfect scenario for either of the
   candidates," he said.

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