LAS VEGAS–President Joe Biden, as expected, won over Democrat challengers in the Feb. 6 Nevada primary election, putting him one step closer to formally securing the renomination that appears all but assured.
The Associated Press (AP) called the race for the president at 11:39 p.m. ET, after early returns showed he was drawing almost 90 percent of the votes.
But he faced no significant opposition. The second-place finisher was author Marianne Williamson, who won about 3 percent of the vote. Another distant challenger, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), chose not to run in the first-in-the-West primary.
“None of These Candidates,” another option on Nevada Democrats’ ballots, was drawing about 6 percent, the AP reported late Tuesday night.
As of 1:00 a.m. ET, AP was reporting that Biden would win most of the state’s 36 delegates to the Democrat National Convention this summer, where the party will formally designate its nominee to compete in the November presidential election.
Republicans balked at the change, resulting in a “meaningless” primary on Tuesday, followed by a caucus on Feb. 8, where the winner will receive delegates.
Voter turnout for both Republicans and Democrats was low. In Clark County, the state’s most populous area with 2.3 million residents, a total of 15,725 people had cast ballots.
Tuesday’s vote totals were in contrast to turnout figures for the 2020 primary election. Nearly 311,000 ballots were cast in Clark County and about 484,000 ballots were cast statewide for that contest, according to the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office.
But state officials said that comparison isn’t necessarily valid, considering this was the first time for the presidential preference primary. They pointed out that lower turnout is expected when only a single race is being decided, which was the case here.
President Biden’s campaign issued a statement following the outcome.
“Nevada Democrats represent the backbone of our nation: the union workers who built the middle class, immigrants who came here in search of opportunity, and families of all stripes who deserve dignity, personal freedom, and a fair shot at the American dream,” the statement said.
“Tonight they showed us all: we still believe in an America where we treat everybody with honesty, decency, dignity, and respect. Where we leave nobody behind. I am so grateful for their support.”
Following his repeat win in South Carolina this year, his second-straight victory in Nevada promises to boost the candidacy of an incumbent who is battling record-low approval ratings.
Those are largely tied to three concerns: His handling of the U.S.-Mexico illegal immigration crisis, economic conditions including persistent inflation, and the 81-year-old’s ability to handle the rigors of the presidency.
In 2020, then-candidate Biden won Nevada by less than 3 percent. His presumed 2024 Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, has been trying to flip the Silver State into his column.
At the same time, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aims to grab votes from each of them.
“You all are the reason why I’m president of the United States of America,” President Biden told rally attendees, some of whom wore T-shirts bearing union logos.
“You’re the reason Donald Trump is a former president. ... and you’re the reason we’ll make Donald Trump a loser again!”
Despite these indicators that President Biden’s candidacy could be on an upswing, concerns linger as polls continue to signify that support for him has slipped among key constituencies such as blacks and Hispanics.
His advocates counter that they see signs that black voters remain staunchly in his corner. They note that he won 96 percent of the black vote in South Carolina earlier this month.
This year, South Carolinians cast only about 131,000 primary ballots, 50,000 fewer than in the state’s 2022 midterm primary and 200,000 fewer than in the 2020 primary.
