Donald Trump and Joe Biden won more delegates in Tuesday’s primary elections as they aim for a rematch in November.
Trump and Biden’s first wins were in Ohio and Illinois, where the Senate race is also heating up. Trump also won the Republican primary in Florida, where Democrats do not hold a primary.
In Ohio, Illinois and Florida, former South Carolina governor and presidential candidate Nikki Haley still won a significant portion of the Republican vote despite withdrawing from the race.
The president and former president have already won enough delegates to win the presidential nominations of both parties, and most of the challengers have dropped out. President Trump’s last Republican challenger, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, ended her presidential campaign after Super Tuesday. Biden’s leading challenger, Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, also withdrew.
With the presidential nomination contest now settled, candidates are concentrating on campaigning in the battleground states needed to win the November general election.
Biden has visited Arizona and Nevada in recent days, seeking to shore up support among young and Latino voters who could be key to his reelection. Mr. Biden has touted his economic policies and attacked Mr. Trump on immigration and abortion, hoping to tap into wavering voters and waning enthusiasm among groups that supported him in 2020.
Democrats are urging their supporters to vote for Arizona self-help guru Marianne Williamson as they seek to express dissatisfaction with Biden over his handling of the war in Gaza. That’s because, unlike Biden, she wants a permanent ceasefire. Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Ohio called on their supporters: “Leave it blank”.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to stir up controversy in his campaign amid continuing legal troubles. He sparked outrage in an interview on Monday when he claimed that Jews who vote for Democrats “hate their religion and hate Israel.” As he travels around the country to rally his supporters and raise money, he has increasingly hailed the rioters as heroes and made the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol a cornerstone of his campaign.
Several key down-ballot races are hotly contested in Illinois, Ohio, Illinois and California.
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Ohio
In Ohio, President Trump’s endorsed Bernie Moreno will win the Republican Senate primary and face Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in November, the Associated Press predicts. Moreno, a wealthy former car dealer who has never held public office, led polls ahead of Election Day, ahead of state Sen. Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
Mr. Dolan’s family owned the Cleveland Guardians baseball team and was backed by establishment Republicans, including Gov. Mike DeWine.
Moreno’s candidacy was weighed down by questions about his qualifications and lack of experience. He believed in strongly anti-LGBTQ+ policies, and in 2008, the Associated Press reported that his work email was used to create an account on an adult site seeking “men to have one-on-one sex.” It was also the subject of A report that Moreno had denied.
Republicans are eyeing Brown’s seat as a potential seat to flip in November. Brown is the only Democrat elected statewide in Ohio, a state that has shifted dramatically to the right in recent years.
