Biden And Trump Secure Victories In Pennsylvania Primary, Setting Stage for Battleground Showdown

U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican challenger Donald Trump, both now their party's presumptive nominees, secured victories in their respective primary races on Tuesday in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

The Keystone State, contributing 19 Electoral College votes toward the crucial 270 needed for victory, stands as a highly coveted prize and a toss-up in the 2024 presidential election, which includes a rematch between Biden and Trump.

Trump previously clinched a win in the state in 2016, while Biden emerged victorious in 2020.

Tuesday's primary served as one of the final assessments of voter enthusiasm in a campaign characterized by low approval ratings for both candidates.

Although Biden and Trump had secured their parties' nominations, Pennsylvania voters still had alternative options in the presidential primaries.

In the Republican primary, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley's name remained on the ballot despite her withdrawal from the presidential race the previous month.

Trump garnered 268,670 votes, equivalent to 79.4% of the vote, with 33% of votes counted. Haley obtained 70,648 votes, comprising 20.6% of the vote, according to state data.

The number of votes for Haley highlights the ongoing dissatisfaction among some Republicans with Trump, particularly as he faces trial on 34 criminal charges in New York.

On the Democratic side, with nearly 50% of the votes tallied, Biden secured 491,892 votes, accounting for 94.4% of the total. Democratic congressman Dean Phillips, who withdrew from the race, received 29,333 votes, representing 5.6% of the vote.

A group of progressive activists initiated a campaign urging Democrats to write in "uncommitted" on Tuesday to protest Biden's handling of the Gaza conflict.

Modeled after the 'Listen to Michigan' campaign, this aims to secure at least 40,000 "uncommitted" write-in votes, though it may take several weeks for these ballots to be tabulated.

Biden won Pennsylvania only by a slim margin of approximately 80,000 votes or 1.2 points in 2020.

The President's ties to Pennsylvania, where he was born and spent part of his childhood in Scranton, are longstanding, and he has maintained a strong presence in the political landscape of neighboring Delaware for decades.

Meanwhile, In the state's U.S. Senate race, incumbent Democrat Bob Casey and his Republican challenger, Dave McCormick, faced no opposition in their respective primaries. With opinion polls indicating a tight contest, the outcome of this race could play a key role in determining whether Democrats maintain control of the Senate.