After a soggy and subdued voting day in Nevada, Joe Biden secured victory in the primary.
The Associated Press announced the results about two hours after voting ended.Biden’s closest challenger, Marianne Williamson, is only registered in the low single digits.
The “none of these candidates” option defeated Nikki Haley in the state’s Republican presidential primary, an embarrassing result for the former U.N. ambassador who was the only major candidate on the ballot, the Associated Press said. I expected it.
But the biggest event for the Republican Party is Thursday, when the race essentially ends in the nomination process, as the party caucuses with Donald Trump in a vote that will determine the actual delegates sent to the Republican National Convention. It’s meaningless.
Haley hasn’t put much effort into campaigning in Nevada, calling the process a “fraud” on Trump’s part.
In-person turnout in Tuesday’s primary appears to have been low, likely due to voter confusion over dual elections and the availability of early voting and mail-in voting options.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, about 15,700 people voted in-person and about 151,000 people voted early. But given that it was the first presidential primary in Nevada, which has hosted caucuses for decades, there was no clear barometer for measuring turnout. State lawmakers voted in 2021 to change the way voters choose presidential candidates, arguing that the primary format is more accessible.
“We are a 24/7 economy, and people are looking for efficiency at work,” said Cisco Aguilar, Nevada’s Secretary of State. “You can get that efficiency through the primary process.”
At a high school polling place on the east side of Las Vegas, only 23 people showed up to vote and about 15 election workers milled around waiting. Several people shuffled inside to drop off their ballots. Among them were Virginia Christiansen, 71, and Jerry Christiansen, 77, who voted for Biden. “I have no complaints about him,” said Jerry, a retired carpenter who helped build the high school. “I don’t understand why he doesn’t get recognition.”
In battleground states crucial to Biden’s 2020 election, primaries will be an imperfect measure of how active the electorate is.
“I want to thank the voters of Nevada who put me and Kamala Harris in the White House four years ago and tonight took us one step further on that path again,” Biden said after the Associated Press called the primary. Stated. “We must organize, we must rally, we must vote, so that one day we can look back and say that when American democracy was at risk, together we saved it.” Because it becomes.”
Harris similarly sent a signal heading into the November general election. “I look forward to returning to Nevada often for the general election,” she said.
The pro-Biden SuperPac recently spent a record $250 million in advertising in seven battleground states, including Nevada, aimed at mobilizing disaffected young voters, Latino and black voters. The cost was secured.
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In Henderson, just south of Las Vegas, Molly, a bushy Dalmatian certified as a therapy dog, helped stressed voters on Election Day. “She’s here to be a pet,” said Paul Beaton, city license supervisor and Molly’s owner.
Voters slowly trickled in to the polling station at City Hall, wet from heavy rain outside and some feeling depressed.
“I’m not completely thrilled, but I think so.” [Biden’s] “Overall, I think he’s doing the bare minimum,” said Donnie Lord, 45.
Economic hardship was a top concern for many voters. Union organizers, who have been key to mobilizing Democratic voters in the state, said on Election Day their primary focus was on campaigning for higher wages for stadium workers ahead of this weekend’s Super Bowl. Stated. “There will be plenty of time to talk politics,” D. Taylor, president of the Unite Here union, said at a news conference Tuesday morning.
The state’s powerful culinary unions are also helping organize workers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, where the Super Bowl will be held, and are planning a large-scale voter mobilization effort later this year ahead of the general election. Planning.
“From union members in Las Vegas to teachers in Reno, Nevadans across the Silver State will once again stand behind Donald Trump and the magazine this November,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison said in a statement after the vote. “We’ve set the stage for defeating the Republican Party.” . “Nevada’s first western primary symbolizes the Democratic Party’s commitment to uplifting voters of color, engaging the diverse coalition that is the foundation of the Democratic Party, and making it easier for everyone to have their voices heard. There is.”
