[Cincinatus' Wife]

March 1 is the SEC primary:

“...What makes Texas more fascinating is the overall political dynamic on March 1.

Other Southern states, including Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee, are also holding elections in what’s billed as the SEC primary because it includes states with schools in college football’s Southeastern Conference.

There’s also something for Northerners that day. Minnesota, Massachusetts, Vermont and Alaska have presidential elections as well.

Given the importance of the SEC bonanza, Cruz and Trump and other contenders have put resources in the South. Cruz says the nomination will probably be won March 1, a day with 632 delegates at stake. That’s the largest haul of any day in the primary process. Consider that the early contest states offer only 133 delegates”...

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/gromer-jeffers-jr/20160104-texas-to-flex-its-muscle-in-big-primary.ece

[TomGuy]

Partial chart of states by primary date thru March. Number following state name is the total number of state delegates. The number following primary type is the cumulative total of all state delegates -- earned and super delegates:

February 1, 2016	Iowa	30	Closed caucus	30
February 9, 2016	New Hampshire	23	Modified primary	53
February 20, 2016	South Carolina	50	Open primary	103
February 23, 2016	Nevada	30	Closed caucus	133
March 1, 2016	Alabama	50	Open primary	183
	Alaska	28	Closed caucus	211
	Arkansas	40	Open primary	251
	Georgia	76	Modified primary	327
	Massachusetts	42	Modified primary	369
	Minnesota	38	Open caucus	407
	Oklahoma	43	Closed primary	450
	Tennessee	58	Open primary	508
	Texas	155	Open primary	663
	Vermont	16	Open primary	679
	Virginia	49	Open primary	728
	Wyoming	29	Closed caucus	757
March 5, 2016	Maine	23	Closed caucus	780
	Kansas	40	Closed caucus	820
	Kentucky	45	Closed caucus	865
	Louisiana	46	Closed primary	911
March 8, 2016	Hawaii	19	Closed caucus	930
	Idaho	32	Closed primary	962
	Mississippi	39	Open primary	1001
	Michigan	59	Closed primary	1060
March 12, 2016	District of Columbia	19	Closed caucus	1079
	Guam	9	Closed caucus	1088
March 13, 2016	Puerto Rico	23	Open primary	1111
March 15, 2016	Ohio	66	Modified primary	1177
	Florida	99	Closed primary	1276
	Illinois	69	Open primary	1345
	Missouri	52	Modified caucus	1397
	North Carolina	72	Modified primary	1469
March 22, 2016	Arizona	58	Closed primary	1527
	Utah	40	Modified primary	1567

[Mariner]

"Cruz says the nomination will probably be won March 1, a day with 632 delegates at stake"

All primaries and caucii prior to March 15th will award delegates proportional to the votes cast with the exception of a few party officers in each state. It would be impossible for a candidate to acquire a decisive lead during the SEC primaries, by design.

Assume a candidate does very well and acquires 40% of the total and comes out with 253 delegates on March 2nd.

That total could easily be surpassed on March 15th with the winner-take-all primaries in large states like FL, MO, IL, OH, NC.

Heck, there's still 250 delegates to be won on June 7th.