Trump and Biden sweep 4 state primaries, getting closer to rematch

Voters in four states weighed in on their parties’ presidential candidates on Tuesday in a largely symbolic vote as both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump cast their ballots Target Democrats and the Republican nomination.

Biden and Trump easily won primaries in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin, increasing their delegate quotas for this summer’s party conventions.

Their victory, while not surprising, also demonstrates the base’s enthusiasm for an upcoming 2020 rematch that disappoints most Americans.

In particular, the vote count in Wisconsin, a key battleground in November, will hint at how many Republicans still do not support Trump and how many Democrats are disillusioned with Biden. Trump campaigned Tuesday in Wisconsin and Michigan, two Midwestern battleground states.

“Donald Trump is the first person I can remember who actually tried to deliver on all the promises he made during the campaign,” said Scott Lindemann, a 62-year-old contractor in Kenosha, Wisconsin. , who voted for the former president in 2017. Republican primary. “I’m very impressed.”

All four states voting Tuesday have multiple candidates on the ballot, and three of them also have the option to vote for “uncommitted” or “undirected delegates.” Biden faces opposition from activists who are encouraging Democrats to vote against him to send a message of disapproval of his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.

“No Commitment” movements in Rhode Island and Connecticut received similar shares of the vote as protests in Minnesota and Michigan, 19% and 13% respectively.

In New York, registered Republican Steve Wheatley, 70, said he wished there were more candidates to choose from. He said he voted for Nikki Haley even though “she didn’t stand a chance” due to a lack of options.

“We need young candidates with new ideas to run for president,” said Whitley, a resident of the Hudson Valley town of Athens. “I prefer the Democrats, but we have very few options. Look at what Biden has done so far on the economy.”

Theresa Laabs, a 55-year-old cashier in Kenosha, said her family is feeling the pinch from rising food and gas prices, but she voted for Biden in the Democratic primary because she It feels like he’s trying to mitigate inflation.

“I know it’s the economy right now, and I hope Joe continues to work harder over the next four years to try to reduce these things and make life easier for working families,” Labus said.

Trump and Biden turned their attention to the election weeks ago Haley drops out of Republican race. Biden visited all major battlegrounds last month after delivering his State of the Union address.

Biden and the Democratic National Committee outraised Trump and the Republican Party. Last week, Biden raised $26 million, the most for a single event, at a star-studded event in New York that saw entertainment industry big names join forces with the president and his Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. , raising $26 million.

Trump is hoping to outdo his rivals with a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, this weekend that he hopes will raise $33 million.

As presidential candidates locked up their respective parties’ nominations, turnout in Rhode Island was low, with just 4% of eligible voters casting a ballot as of 5 p.m., a figure that includes Tuesday’s in-person voting as well as mail-in and early voting . vote.

Things are also slow at the Connecticut border, where early voting is taking place for the first time in the state’s history. State Secretary Stephanie Thomas said turnout as of 11 a.m. in some communities was only 1% to 2%, while turnout in Stamford, one of the state’s larger cities, was 4%. %. “What we’ve been hearing out of the field over the last few weeks is that this is not a competitive primary,” she said of the low numbers.