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President Joe Biden and former president Donald J. Trump both won their respective Democratic and Republican primaries in Washington state.
The Associated Press made the projections just minutes after 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12 when dropboxes closed.
President Joe Biden clinched the Democratic presidential nomination with decisive victories in Georgia and Mississippi on Tuesday, overcoming concerns about his leadership from within his own party as the 2024 presidential contest shifts to a general election rematch that many voters do not want.
With a win in Washington state, former President Donald Trump has enough delegates needed to become GOP’s presumptive nominee for a third straight election.
Washington county-by-county election results
As of Tuesday night, Trump had more than 74% of the vote on the GOP side. Candidates who dropped out of the race for president remained on Washington ballots took in some of the vote with Nikki Haley getting nearly 22% of the vote. Ron DeSantis took 2%, Chris Christie 1% and Vivek Ramaswamy just under 1%.
For the Democrats, Joe Biden carried nearly 87% of the vote. Uncommitted voters showed up in force with nearly 50,000 votes or about 7.5% of the vote. Dean Phillips earned 3% and Marianne Williamson 2.7%.
Voter turnout appeared to be low with an estimated 80% of votes counted Tuesday night, only 23% of registered voters had returned their ballots. An estimated 183,245 ballots were on hand to be processed.
Votes in Washington still count in the days following the election as long as ballots are postmarked or in a secure dropbox by 8:00 p.m. on election night.
Washington Presidential Primary
Tuesday is the Washington Primary! In order for your vote to count, your ballot needs to be placed in a dropbox or postmarked by 8 p.m.
Biden and Trump both become parties’ presumptive nominees
In a statement, Biden celebrated the nomination while casting Trump as a serious threat to democracy.
Trump, Biden said, “is running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America.”
He continued, “I am honored that the broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country have put their faith in me once again to lead our party — and our country — in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever.”
On the eve of Tuesday’s primaries, Trump acknowledged that Biden would be the Democratic nominee, even as he unleashed a new attack on the president’s age.
“I assume he’s going to be the candidate,” Trump said of Biden on CNBC. “I’m his only opponent other than life, life itself.”
As both candidates seek to project strength in the key swing state, Biden and Trump are grappling with glaring flaws.
Trump is facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases involving his handling of classified documents and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, among other alleged crimes. He’s also facing increasingly pointed questions about his policy plans and relationships with some of the world’s most dangerous dictators. Trump met privately on Friday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has rolled back democracy in his country.
The 81-year-old Biden is working to assure a skeptical electorate that he’s still physically and mentally able to thrive in the world’s most important job.
He’s also dealing with dissension within his party’s progressive base, which is furious that he hasn’t done more to stop Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Last month in Michigan, a related protest “uncommitted” vote attracted more than 100,000 votes and actually secured two Democratic delegates.
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, a scattering of lawn signs across Seattle urged primary participants to vote “uncommitted” as well, with some signs reading, “Over 30,000 dead. Vote Ceasefire by Tuesday 3/12.”
Moments after Bella Rivera, 26, dropped off her ballot at a drop box in Seattle, they said they hoped that by voting “uncommitted” that it would serve as a wakeup call for the Democratic party.
“If you really want our votes, if you want to win this election, you’re going to have to show a little bit more either support of Palestinian liberation — that’s something that’s very important to us — and ceasing funds to Israel,” said Rivera, a preschool teacher who uses they/them pronouns.
Meanwhile, Trump is on pace to win the number of delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination.
He picked up an additional 11 delegates ahead of Tuesday’s primaries when the Texas Republican Party announced it was awarding all of the state’s 161 delegates to the former president, based on results from last week’s primary. The Texas GOP had been planning to award 11 delegates at the state party convention in May, but national party rules require the delegates to be awarded based on the presidential primary, which Trump won overwhelmingly.
That put Trump just 126 delegates short of the 1,215 needed to win the Republican nomination at the party’s national convention this summer. There are 161 Republican delegates at stake on Tuesday in Georgia, Mississippi, Washington state and Hawaii.
With a strong showing on Tuesday, Trump can sweep all the delegates in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state. Hawaii allocates delegates proportionally so other candidates could win a few, even with a small share of the vote.
2024 Delegate Tracker
MORE ELECTION COVERAGE:
‘No Labels’ moving closer to fielding third-party 2024 presidential candidate: reports
Mitch McConnell endorses Donald Trump for president
‘Uncommitted’ vote campaign against Biden: Super Tuesday results
Nikki Haley suspends 2024 presidential campaign
Supreme Court rules Trump will stay on ballot, overruling states
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Read More: How every WA county voted in the 2024 Presidential Primary
