US President Joe Biden holds a campaign rally ahead of the state’s Democratic presidential primary, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, on February 4, 2024.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
President Joe Biden won Nevada’s Democratic primary, NBC News projects.
The other Democrat on the ballot was self-help author and former 2020 Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson. Biden’s other competitor was an election option for “Neither of these candidates.”
The president’s victory comes just days after he won his first official primary in South Carolina on Saturday by a landslide, taking 96.2% of the vote against House Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and Williamson.
Nevada will award its 36 Democratic delegates proportionally, based on the final vote count. Democratic candidates need 1,968 delegates to secure the nomination.
According to the Nevada Secretary of State, prior to Tuesday’s in-person primary, 14,400 early votes had already been cast and more than 127,700 absentee ballots had been accepted for counting. Of these, 62% were Democratic primary votes and 38% were Republican primary votes.
There, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is running Tuesday without an opponent. Former President Donald Trump will skip Tuesday and instead attend the state party caucus on Thursday.
Nevada is the top 2024 primary contest in the West and will be a closely watched swing state come November.
Democrats have won Nevada in the last four presidential elections. But voters elected a Republican, Joe Lombardo, as governor in 2022. Lombardo has already endorsed Republican Donald Trump for president.
In the 2020 general election, Latino voters helped Biden win Nevada by a razor-thin margin of just over 33,000 votes in a state with 1.8 million registered voters.
This close approach has made Democrats even more focused on voter growth this year.
However, without a competitive opponent in the primary, the real meaning of Tuesday’s turnout numbers will be difficult to interpret. That’s because significantly fewer voters turn out to vote in uncompetitive races, where one candidate holds an overwhelming advantage.
According to the Nevada Secretary of State, prior to Tuesday’s in-person primary, 14,400 early votes had already been cast and more than 127,700 absentee ballots had been accepted for counting.
Next on Biden’s primary calendar is Michigan, another large swing state, where 117 Democratic delegates are up for grabs.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.