Joe Biden and Donald Trump swept to victory in states across the US on Super Tuesday, easily winning presidential primary elections from Maine to California as they all but solidified an unprecedented rematch in November.
But the biggest night of the primary season exposed glaring weaknesses in both candidates’ electoral coalitions.
Tens of thousands of Democrats furious with Biden over his unequivocal support for Israel’s war in Gaza voted for the ballot line “uncommitted” or “no preference” in Minnesota, Massachusetts and elsewhere on Tuesday, yet another sign of the fraying alliances between the president and several key constituencies that helped bring him to power in 2020.
A hastily organized “uncommitted” campaign in Minnesota was on track to do as well or even better than it did in Michigan last week. With three-quarter of the ballots counted, organizers had far surpassed their goal of getting 5,000 votes, earning close to 20% of the vote.
Trump, meanwhile, stormed to victory in all but one of the 15 states where Republicans cast their ballots on Tuesday. But his rival, Nikki Haley, continued to draw sizable support from voter blocs that will play a critical role in the November general election.
Although Haley had reportedly decided on Wednesday after losing most of the primaries to drop out of the race, she has generally performed well in suburbs and college towns, and many of her voters say they are unlikely to support Trump in November.
Campaigning across the country, Haley had warned Republicans that Trump is a risky standard-bearer who will cost the party the White House, the US House and possibly even the Senate. The message has resonated with the small but significant segment of the party that wants to turn the page on Trump. She raised $12m in February and earned the endorsement of two moderate Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
On Tuesday, Haley bested Trump in Vermont, a Democratic state that elected a moderate Republican governor in 2016, while claiming a handful of delegates in Virginia, where again she ran strong in the suburban counties with large shares of college graduates and young people. She was the top choice of independent voters and college graduates in the state’s GOP primary there, according to CNN exit polls – and just 26% of GOP primary voters who cast their ballots for Haley said they would support the party’s nominee regardless of who wins.
The exit polls also showed that 40% of GOP primary voters in Virginia and nearly a third of GOP primary voters in North Carolina said Trump would be unfit for the presidency if he were convicted of a crime, the exit polls showed.
“There’s no greater imperative in the world than stopping Donald Trump,” said John Schuster, a Democrat who voted for Haley in the Virginia Republican primary. “It’ll be the end of democracy and the world order if he becomes president.”
Super Tuesday also showed that majorities of Americans are deeply dissatisfied with their options: 81-year-old Biden and Trump, his 77-year-old predecessor who is facing 91 felony counts and suggested he would act as a dictator for a day.
Polls consistently show voters disapprove of both Biden and Trump. A new survey by AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that the majority of Americans believe neither candidate has the mental acuity to serve as president for another four years.
Activists disillusioned by Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza began organizing in the battleground state of Michigan, where the state’s large Arab American community was turning against the president they helped elect in 2020. Last week, 100,000 Democrats cast a vote for “uncommitted” – a showing strong enough to notch two delegates.
After the Michigan vote, the US began airdropping aid into Gaza and Kamala Harris came out in support of a six-week temporary ceasefire, which organizers saw as a response to the strength of their protest vote.
“Hopefully we’ll send a strong message from Minnesota to White House,” said Imam Hassan Jama, who voted for, campaigned for and endorsed Biden in 2020 but voted uncommitted on Tuesday. “And if they don’t listen, November is coming.”
Biden’s campaign did not initially acknowledge the protest vote in Michigan, but on Tuesday campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said “The president believes making your voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans. He shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East. He’s working tirelessly to that end.”
Joan Greve contributed to this report from Arlington, Virginia and Rachel Leingang in Minneapolis, Minnesota
