Voters in four states cast their ballots in the March 12 presidential contests on Tuesday.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both clinched their party’s nominations Tuesday night, with voters in Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington casting ballots. Hawaii will also be voting in its GOP caucus, with polls closing in the state at 2 a.m. Eastern time. Polls for Democrats in the Northern Mariana Islands and Democrats abroad closed Tuesday morning.
Biden surpassed the necessary delegate threshold swiftly on Tuesday night, surpassing the necessary 1,968 delegates to win his party’s nomination after winning in Georgia. Biden also won in Mississippi and Washington, and was awarded the Northern Mariana Islands’s delegates earlier on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Trump breezed past the necessary 1,215 delegates to secure the GOP nomination winning in Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington Tuesday night. The former president is expected to also win in Hawaii, which has 19 delegates at stake.
Results
Georgia
Biden won the Democratic primary in Georgia, with the Associated Press calling the race at 7:08 p.m. Eastern time. With 96% of the votes counted, Biden earned 95.2% support, compared to author Marianne Williamson’s 3% and Rep. Dean Phillips’s (D-MN), who dropped out after Super Tuesday, 1.8%.
Trump won the Georgia primary, with the Associated Press calling the race at 7:11 p.m. Eastern time. With 97% of the votes accounted for, Trump won with 84.5%. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race on March 6, presented Trump with his biggest hurdle of the night, winning 13.2% of the vote.
The Peach State will be a key battleground state in the 2024 general election.
Biden, who beat Trump in the state in 2020 by only 11,779 votes out of nearly 5 million cast, looks to win the state in November to secure reelection. The primary could offer insight into how strong the president’s hold is on the state heading into his rematch against Trump.
Registered voters in the state could vote in either primary, as they do not register by party.
Polls closed at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
Delegates at stake: 108 for Democrats, 59 for Republicans
Mississippi
In deep-red Mississippi, Biden cruised to victory, with the Associated Press calling the uncontested primary at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Trump, as the only GOP presidential candidate still running on the ballot, also clinched a victory in Mississippi, with the Associated Press calling the primary at 8:08 p.m. Eastern time. With 92% of the votes counted, Trump held 92.6% support.
Mississippi voted in multiple down-ballot races as well on Tuesday, with one Senate and four House seats on the primary ballot.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) won the GOP primary, with the Associated Press calling the race at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Wicker is seeking a fourth full term, and won 61.2% support with 92% of the vote counted.
Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS), a former district attorney, ran unopposed in Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District’s GOP primary, increasing his chances of holding on to the seat he has held since winning a 2015 special election. Democrat Dianne Black, a salon owner, won the Democratic primary with the Associated Press calling the race at 8:50 p.m. Eastern time. Black won 84.7% to Williams 15.3% with 92% of votes counted. Black will face Kelly in November.
In the 2nd District, Ronald Eller, a retired captain in the Army, and Andrew Smith, an insurance agency owner, are advancing to a runoff election. Eller and Smith are vying to become the Republican who will take on longtime incumbent Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), former chairman of the House Jan. 6 select committee, in November.
In the 3rd District’s GOP primary, Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) ran unopposed.
Rep. Mike Ezell (R-MS), the incumbent in Georgia’s 4th Congressional District defeated his GOP challengers for the Republican nomination, with 73.2% with 98% of the votes counted. The Associated Press called the race for Ezell at 9:20 p.m. Eastern time. Ezell will face Democrat Craig Raybon, who ran unopposed, in November.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
Delegates at stake: 35 for Democrats, 40 for Republicans
Washington
Biden handily won Washington’s Democratic primary, with the Associated Press calling the race six minutes after the polls closed at 11 p.m. Eastern time. With 79% of votes counted, Biden had 86.7% of the vote, while 7.5% voted for “uncommitted.”
The “uncommitted” vote on Washington’s ballot presented Biden’s biggest challenge of the night, with at least 48,619 voters opting to not vote for him in protest of his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Vote Uncommitted WA, a group that is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza, is largely behind the state’s effort to vote against Biden in the state’s primary.
Voters casting their votes as uncommitted has plagued Biden throughout the 2024 cycle, with thousands of Democratic voters in at least seven states participating in the protest vote.
Trump, though not likely to win Washington in a general election, easily won Washington’s Republican primary, with the Associated Press calling the race at 11:05 p.m. Eastern time. With 80% of votes counted, Trump had 74.2%. Haley, who also appeared on the ballot along with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as they registered for the primary before dropping their bids, received 21.7%.
Voters in Washington register by presidential primary.
Polls closed at 11 p.m. Eastern time.
Delegates at stake: 92 for Democrats, 43 for Republicans
Yet to be called
Hawaii
Only Republicans will decide on a presidential candidate as voters participate in the caucuses in Hawaii. Democrats already held their caucuses in Hawaii last week, awarding Biden all of their 15 delegates.
GOP voters will decide between Trump and seven other candidates, most of whom are no longer running, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time.
Haley, David Stuckenberg, Ryan Binkley, Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), Christie, DeSantis, and Ramaswamy are all still technically part of the Hawaii caucuses.
Only registered voters and Hawaii Republican Party members are allowed to participate, but same-day registration is available for those who want to vote for a candidate.
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Caucuses will end at 2 a.m. Eastern time.
Delegates at stake: 19 for Republicans
