The primary elections for the 2016 Presidential election have started!

Primary elections make the real November election easier as they weed out all other candidates until only one in the party remains. When the candidates are voted on in the primaries, they are appointed delegates. Once a candidate wins a majority of delegates, they are confirmed as the nominee for their party in the November election.

The Republican party requires 1,237 delegates for nomination, while the Democratic party requires 2,383 delegates.

Here are the candidates for the Republican party:

Jeb Bush — Florida Governor until 2007 from Midland, Texas Dropped out of race on Feb. 20, 2016

Ben Carson — Retired Neurosurgeon from Detroit, Michigan

Chris Christie — Current New Jersey Governor from Newark, New Jersey Dropped out of race on Feb. 10, 2016

Ted Cruz — Texas Senator from Calgary, Canada

Carly Fiorina — American Technology Business Executive from Austin, Texas Dropped out of race on Feb. 10, 2016

Jim Gilmore — Virginia Governor until 2002 from Richmond, Virginia Dropped out of race on Feb. 12, 2016

Lindsey Graham — South Carolina Senator from Central, South Carolina Dropped out of race on Dec. 21, 2015

Mike Huckabee — Arkansas Governor until 2007 from Hope, Arkansas Dropped out of race on Feb. 3, 2016

Bobby Jindal — Louisiana Governor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Dropped out of race on Nov. 17, 2015

John Kasich — Ohio Governor from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania

George Pataki — New York Governor and New York Senator until 2006 from Peekskill, New York Dropped out of race on Dec. 29, 2015

Rick Perry — Texas Governor until 2015 from Paint Creek, Texas Dropped out of race on Sept. 11, 2015

Paul Rand — Kentucky Representative and Physician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Dropped out of race on Feb. 3, 2016

Marco Rubio — Florida Senator from Miami, Florida

Rick Santorum — Pennsylvania Senator from Winchester, Virginia Dropped out of race on Feb. 3, 2016

Donald Trump — American Business Owner from New York, New York

Scott Walker — Wisconsin Governor from Colorado Springs, Colorado Dropped out of race on Sept. 21, 2015

Here are the candidates for the Democratic party:

Lincoln Chafee — Rhode Island Governor from Providence, Rhode Island Dropped out of race on Oct. 23, 2015

Hillary Clinton — Secretary of State from Chicago, IL

Lawrence Lessig — American Attorney from Rapid City, South Dakota Dropped out of race on Nov. 3, 2015

Martin O’Malley — Maryland Governor until 2015 from Washington D.C. Dropped out of race on Feb. 1, 2016

Bernie Sanders — Vermont Senator from New York, New York

Jim Webb — Former Virginia Senator from Saint Joseph, Missouri Dropped out of race on Oct. 20, 2015

The 1st Primary (Republican):

The first Primary took place on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. This was in New Hampshire and just eight days after the Iowa Caucus.

Donald Trump won the first Primary with 95,962 votes, which made up 35.5% of the votes. He was also awarded with ten delegates, which go toward the 1,237 he must attain.

John Kasich came in second with 42,889 votes, which made up 15.8% of the votes. He was also awarded three delegates.

In third place was Ted Cruz with 31,636 votes, which made up 11.6% of the votes. He was appointed two delegates.

Jeb Bush came in fourth place with 30,116 votes, which made up 11.1% of the votes. He was appointed two delegates along with Cruz.

In fifth place with 28,575 votes, was Marco Rubio. He accounted for 10.5% of votes and was awarded no delegates.

The 1st Primary (Democratic):

Bernie Sanders came out on top with 143,017 votes, which equated to about 60% of votes. He was awarded 15 delegates, out of the 2,383 needed.

Hillary Clinton, the only other Democratic candidate running, got 91,440 votes, which is about 38.3% of votes. She was awarded nine delegates.

The 2nd Primary (Republican):

The next Primary, only for Republicans, was held on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. This was the same day as the Democratic Caucus in Nevada. This was the South Carolina Primary.

Trump led the Republicans once again with 239,851 votes, which was 32.5% of the votes. He was awarded all 50 delegates form the State of South Carolina.

Rubio came in second with 22.5% of the votes, or 165,881 votes.

Cruz finished right behind Rubio in third place with 164,790 votes, or 22.3% of the votes cast.

The 2nd Primary (Democratic):

The second Primary just for the Democratic Party was held in South Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016.

Hillary Clinton won the Primary with 271,514 votes, which was about 73.5% of the votes cast. Clinton was also awarded 39 delegates from this Primary

Sanders followed by a lot with only 95,977 votes, which made up about 26% of the votes. Sanders was awarded with 14 delegates

Who is leading?

Donald Trump has now won both Primary Elections by a lot of votes compared to the other running candidates.

Bernie Sanders has won the first Primary Election that the Democrats have been involved in, and he won by more than 51,000 votes.

Clinton won the second Primary Election and beat Sanders by a whopping 175,500 votes.

Get ready for more elections to come. March 1, 2016 is “Super Tuesday,” a day where many states hold Primaries and Caucuses. Nine states are voting in their Primaries and six are voting in their Caucuses.

Illinois is set to hold their Primaries on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 with four other states.