• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, March 1, 2016

Today, March 1, is the biggest day in the presidential primary cycle. The GOP will vote in 11 states and the Democrats in 12.

For former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, overwhelming success today will most likely sew up the Democratic nomination.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, however, won’t go down easy. In the four Super Tuesday states where both Clinton and Sanders have bought TV ads -- Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Oklahoma -- the Vermont Senator is outspending Clinton and her Super PACs on the airwaves, according to Politico.

Sanders is also on the radio in Texas, but is not spending TV dollars.

In Colorado, as of Feb. 26, a state which carries 66 delegates, proportionally apportioned, Sanders is leading Clinton in TV and radio spending $739,000 to $401,000. FiveThirtyEight notes that Sanders must win Colorado, “if he is to have any shot at the nomination.”

In Minnesota, where Sanders will have a good chance to pick up a win, he outspends Clinton again by $883,000 to $470,000.

Accordingly, the heavy spending by the Sanders campaign has been bolstered by an enormous swell of donations in February, totaling more than $40 million. Clinton still has her Super PAC and a strong donation game. However, the money advantage she expected to have at this point in the race looks to be disappearing.

The three Republicans who still have a legitimate chance to win the nomination are Donald Trump and Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

Marco Rubio and his supporters, particularly his Conservative Solutions PAC, have been spending heavily in Super Tuesday states and are also looking forward to Florida, where the PAC has spent over $1 million.

Rubio is the only candidate whose supporting PACs are already spending in post-Super Tuesday states.

Conservative Solutions is spending in the Super Tuesday states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia, which garners the highest spend of about $492,000 (the Rubio campaign is also spending in these states, but significantly less).

The PAC is spending in Texas where it has dished out $1.2 million in support of Rubio just last week.

Ted Cruz is spending in many of the same states, but primarily using money his campaign has generated. He spends more heavily on cable television when compared to broadcast, a strategic difference from his rivals, according to Politico. Cruz is not spending much in Texas, a sign that his campaign is confident of a good outcome.

The GOP front-runner, Donald Trump, who could be many steps closer to the nomination come Wednesday morning, is spending more than $1.1 million across six states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Club for Growth, a PAC that opposes Trump, has spent $719,000 in Arkansas and Oklahoma, countering the real estate moguls’ buys in those states.

Regardless of tomorrow’s outcome, to paraphrase South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham on Showtime’s “The Circus,” this point in history will be a soul-searching moment for the Republican party.