President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump emerged as the Democratic and Republican frontrunners in the United States’ Super Tuesday primary contests, gathering hundreds of delegates from various states.
The two contenders aged 81 years old and 77 years old, respectively, ensured a November rematch, forcing the former president’s last remaining contender for the Republican presidential nomination, Nikki Haley, out of the Republican race.
Haley won the state of Vermont over Trump, but the former president won other states that could have been advantageous for her, such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Maine, with large swathes of voters who had supported Haley in prior elections.
Biden has so far received at least 1,424 delegates, more than 72% of the total necessary for the Democratic nomination, while Trump has garnered at least 946 delegates, 78% of the 1,215 required for the Republican party’s presumptive nominee designation.
Although winning campaigns in California, Maine, and Arkansas, both men faced unexpected difficulties in uniting their party’s most devoted supporters.
Biden unexpectedly lost American Samoa’s Democratic caucus to previously unknown candidate Jason Palmer, a businessman who said that he had never visited the US Samoan territory before the caucus. Palmer garnered 50 of the 91 total votes cast there, while Biden earned 41.
Haley announced her withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with her plans.