(cnn) hillary clinton might be on the way to the democratic presidential nomination but she enters territory that could be considered more favorable to bernie sanders on tuesday with the west virginia primary.









and for the first time on the republican side, there's only one candidate in the race -- but that doesn't mean there's consensus. republicans in west virginia and nebraska will offer the first glimpse at whether the gop can rally behind donald trump in a general election.









for democrats, only west virginia offers binding results. in nebraska, democrats caucused in early march, favoring sanders by nearly 15 points . though democrats will still be voting in a primary on tuesday, the results for the presidential race will have no binding effect on delegate allocation.









here's what to watch in tuesday's contests:









though clinton won west virginia over barack obama in 2008, she has been in far more hostile territory this time around after comments she made about putting coal miners "out of business."









but her critics on the left and right have seized on the remarks, with sanders campaigning in west virginia on taking care of coal workers and donald trump bringing up her remarks in rallies in the state.









the electorate in the last presidential democratic primary was overwhelmingly white and working class. the state also has a primary that allows unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in either contest, meaning sanders can turn out independents. both of those factors have tended to favor him in past contests.









though nebraska's results are non-binding, if the electorate resembles the pro-sanders crowd in march, he'll have another result to tout on what could be a rough night for clinton.









the proportional allocation rules in the democratic primary won't help sanders catch clinton -- but he could spend the next month delivering some embarrassing losses to clinton in states favorable to his campaign.









trump may be the only gop candidate with an active campaign, but he won't be the only candidate on the ballot in either state on tuesday. both west virginia and nebraska will have candidates who have dropped out of the race on the ballot, giving voters a chance to cast protest ballots against trump should they choose.









candidates with suspended campaigns have picked up a handful of votes in states after they left the race, but never in large margins. tuesday will test whether the discomfort with trump as the gop nominee can drive voters to the polls to vote against the mogul.









in west virginia, in addition to casting ballots for trump, voters will also select individual delegates to go to the convention. delegate hopefuls will be marked with their chosen candidate or as uncommitted when voters make up their minds. to be sure, the trump campaign in west virginia sent supporters on monday a guide to which delegates to select.









trump has been viewed unfavorably by upwards of two-thirds of women in general election polling, but has done marginally better with women in the republican electorate. he won 47% of women in the indiana primary last week, according to exit polls. but he won 59% of men. his chances in november will improve should he be able to close that gender gap.









democrats have been hammering trump with some of his comments about women, trying to continue to keep those unfavorables high among the key voting demographic.









without alternative republicans in the race, trump's returns among women could be telling.









republicans hope that trump could put rust belt states like ohio, pennsylvania and michigan in play for the party.









democrats, on the other hand, hope that rising demographic trends in states like arizona, north carolina and georgia coupled with trump's inflammatory statements about minorities could give democrats an edge in states they have traditionally lost.









with trump and clinton holding tight grips on their party's nominations, tuesday will begin to show signs of what the general electorate could look like, and what issues are motivating them to the polls.
what to watch in tuesday's primaries
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