The polls had just closed in Georgia Tuesday evening when the race was called for Joe Biden, thereby officially making the Democratic nomination for president his.
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LIVE: Election Results - Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, Washington
Not that this came as a surprise. Heading into Tuesday's Democratic primaries in Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington, Biden already had 1,867 of the 1,968 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination. With 108 delegates, Georgia handed him a resounding win that put him over the top. (With 17 percent of the vote counted as of this writing, Biden has 95.7 percent of the vote versus self-help guru Marianne Williamson at 2.5 percent. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who's already suspended his campaign, received 1.8 percent of the vote.)
Georgia didn't have an "Uncommitted" option on its ballot, but Washington does, so it will be interesting to see what percentage the protest vote garners.
Although Biden wasn’t expected to face any serious challenge to the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, Georgia and Washington were home to campaigns looking to protest Biden and his administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
Organizers in Washington urged Democratic primary voters to cast a ballot for “uncommitted,” while organizers in Georgia urged members of the party to leave their ballot blank. The initiatives are similar to ones in Michigan and Minnesota, where portions of the Democratic electorate cast a protest vote against the president.
The protest vote surprisingly has proved more potent than any of Biden’s long-shot Democratic challengers, including Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.).
Former President Donald Trump was also declared the early winner in Georgia, though that didn't yet put his delegate count over the 1,215 needed to officially cinch the Republican nomination. He is expected to do so as the votes in Mississippi, Washington, and from Hawaii's Republican caucus roll in later in the evening.
That sets up a 2020 rematch between the incumbent and former president. The difference this time is Biden's (abysmal) record as president, Trump's numerous indictments, and, of course, the threat of a third-party challenge from No Labels and/or from now-Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
One thing's for certain: The next eight months are going to be...interesting.
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