Washington: US President Joe Biden and his rival and predecessor Donald Trump, the presumptive presidential nominees for their parties, have secured more delegates by winning their respective primaries, continuing their march towards a rematch in November.
Trump, 77, and Biden, 81, won in Arizona, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio Tuesday. Trump also won the Republican primary in Florida, where the Democrats are not holding a primary.
In Florida, Trump swept the Republican primary taking home all the 125 delegates.
Indian-origin former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who has now withdrawn from the race, got 14 per cent of the votes and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received four per cent of the votes in a low turnout. DeSantis has also withdrawn from the race.
“Trump demonstrated absolute dominance in the result. Polling for the general election shows that his dominance in Florida will continue until November. Florida is Trump Country,” said Trump senior adviser Brian Hughes.
In Arizona, Haley surprisingly received 20 per cent of the votes. Trump with 76.2 per cent of the votes bagged all the 43 delegates at stake. Arizona is considered to be a battleground state.
Now Trump has 1,623 delegates and Biden has 2,483 delegates.
In a rematch of 2020, Biden and Trump are facing each other in the November 5 presidential elections. After the Super Tuesday primaries March 5, the two emerged as the presumptive nominee of the Republican party.
Their rematch is expected to mirror the 2020 campaign, though Trump will run this time under the spectre of 91 felony charges.
Trump is expected to become the first former American president to go on trial in a criminal case March 25 in New York, where he faces charges he falsified business records to hide hush money payments to a porn star.
Other charges are related to allegations that he plotted to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Biden; played a lead role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol and illegally took classified documents from the White House.
It would be the first presidential rematch since 1956.
The last presidential rematch came in 1956 when Republican President Dwight D Eisenhower again defeated Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic opponent he had four years prior.
Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 November elections, an outcome still challenged by the Republican leader.
With the presidential nominating contests clinched, the candidates were focusing on campaigning in swing states they would need to win the general election in November.
“Today’s primaries underline what we’ve seen over and over again this cycle: voters are excited to cast their ballot for Democrats and send MAGA (Make America Great Again) extremists packing,” said Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison.
“Make America Great Again” is an American political slogan and movement most recently popularised by Trump during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. “MAGA” is also used to refer to Trump’s political base.
“From Arizona to Ohio, the Democratic coalition is built on the diversity and strength of voters who know just how much is on the line this November. Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans are campaigning to gut Medicare and Social Security, repeal the Affordable Care Act, and rip away reproductive rights. But we won’t let them,” he said.
“Between now and November, Democrats will continue to meet voters where they are, in every corner of this country, so that we can outline the stakes of this election, earn their vote, earn their trust, and once again earn Democratic victories up and down the ballot – from the school board to the White House,” Harrison said.
Meanwhile, Bernie Moreno, a wealthy car dealer, won the Republican primary in Ohio. He was backed by Trump.
Indian-American politician Niraj Antani, Ohio State Senator, lost the Republican primary for the Second Congressional District of Ohio. The seat was won by David Taylor.
PTI