President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump both secured significant victories in state primaries on Tuesday, with a notable protest vote from members of both parties expressing discontent with the candidates.
Both candidates, who have already secured their nominations, dominated in the primaries in Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, with results announced shortly after polls closed in each state.
Mr. Trump garnered over 75 percent of the vote in all states by 11 p.m. However, Nikki Haley, who withdrew from the race early last month, still managed to secure at least 10 percent of the vote in all four states, indicating lingering dissatisfaction within the Republican Party towards Mr. Trump. Connecticut saw Mr. Trump with less than 78 percent of the vote, while Ms. Haley received approximately 14 percent.
By 11 p.m., Mr. Biden had secured over 80 percent of the vote in every primary. Activists have encouraged protest votes in the primaries as a way to show disapproval of Mr. Biden’s handling of the conflict in Gaza. The “uncommitted” option on the ballot received between 8 and 15 percent of the vote in states where it was available. In Rhode Island, 14.9 percent of voters opted for the “uncommitted” option, amounting to 3,750 votes, with Democratic turnout roughly a quarter of the 2020 numbers.
New York voters did not have a write-in option, so organizers of the “uncommitted” movement encouraged Democratic primary voters to leave their ballots blank instead. Blank ballots will not be included in the initial unofficial results, which showed Mr. Biden with over 90 percent of the counted votes.
In the Republican primary in New York, Mr. Trump received over 80 percent of the vote, with Ms. Haley at 13 percent and Chris Christie, a former governor of New Jersey, securing more than 4 percent of the vote. Mr. Christie exited the race in January.
