The Mar. 5 presidential primaries are one of the first main events on the road to deciding who will be president of the United States in 2024. Yesterday, millions of people across a dozen states went out and voted in an event known as Super Tuesday. On Super Tuesday, voters decided who they wanted to represent their respective parties, the Republican or Democratic party.
The day ended with Trump winning the republican primary by a large margin, with 69% of the Republican vote. Biden won the Democratic primary with 70% of the votes. After the significant losses of the two other major candidates, Nikki Haley and Dean Phillips, both have announced that they are dropping out of the presidential race.
Although the primaries largely matched expectations, with Biden and Trump winning emphatically, an unexpected factor came into play. The uncommitted vote for the democratic party was 20%, beating out Dean Phillips and taking a large chunk out of Biden’s votes. The uncommitted votes were a form of protest by many Minnesotans against Biden’s support of Israel and their ongoing attacks on Gaza. This can be seen as a message for Biden to stop supporting Israel if he wants to gain more votes.
Using the primaries as a form of protest is a difficult thing to do, [but] the intentions are clear.
— Oliver Conrod-Wovcha
Additional controversies surround both Biden’s and Trump’s reelections. Trump has faced multiple indictments and charges. Voters have many concerns about Biden, such as his age. He is currently 81 and starting to show noticeable signs of his age in press conferences. Many voters are worried if he is fit to run the country in the state he is currently in.
Trump hopes to serve a second term after being in office from 2016 to 2020. Trump has been a controversial figure in the last few years, yet still took the primary vote.
Biden is looking to serve a second term in a row and keep pushing many of the same ideals that he has campaigned for and run within his presidency so far. Biden positioned himself as an opposition to Trump, who has pushed more left-leaning and liberal laws on various issues while in office.
This year’s Super Tuesday has given us an essential look into the 2024 election season. It is part of the process of deciding who will represent each party on the ballot. This year’s election will be critical considering the United States’ polarizing and volatile political standoff between Republicans and Democrats, specifically Biden and Trump.
“I don’t think this election will be exactly like the 2020 election again,” said senior Oliver Conrod-Wovcha. “I think there has been a change in perception in both candidates in the last few years. Using the primaries as a form of protest is a difficult thing to do, [but] the intentions are clear.”
This story was updated on 3/12
