Biden, Trump win in Minnesota on Super Tuesday, heading to a November repeat

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump easily won their respective Democratic and Republican primaries in Minnesota on Tuesday, setting up an increasingly inevitable rematch in November.

The Associated Press called the races for Biden and Trump shortly after polls closed in Minnesota on Super Tuesday, when the nation learned the results of presidential primaries in 16 states. Biden and Trump had already been cruising to the nominations of their parties for weeks despite voter misgivings about a redo of the 2020 race.

While no one is elected or formally nominated on Super Tuesday, voters help the major parties establish their tickets.

“It’s a really consequential day, no candidate for president wants to do poorly on Super Tuesday,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said before the polls closed.

Voter turnout was light in Minnesota’s second presidential primary. Before Tuesday, only 88,583 ballots from Minnesotans who voted early had been accepted, compared to 155,255 in the last presidential primary four years ago.

Both Biden and Trump have faced intraparty challengers who fared poorly in Minnesota as they’ve done in other states leading up to Tuesday’s primaries.

Minnesota Third District U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips failed to get any momentum in his home state. He has yet to win a single delegate in any state.

Similarly, Republican and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley of South Carolina hasn’t been able to dislodge Trump from the top of the ticket. She got nearly 29% of the Republican vote in Minnesota, while Trump got about 69%.

Before the polls closed, Phillips saw his fate. He posted on social media, “Congratulations to Joe Biden, Uncommitted, Marianne Williamson, and Nikki Haley for demonstrating more appeal to Democratic Party loyalists than me.”

Phillips got under 8% in unofficial results, while nearly 19% of Minnesotans checked “uncommitted.”

At Wayzata City Hall, Harriett Chute, 66, said she planned to vote for Haley out of concern for the ages of Biden and Trump, 81 and 77, respectively.

“I’ve had parents in their 80s, and I wouldn’t wish [the presidency] on anybody at that age,” Chute said. “Leading our nation, do you really need to do that?”

Becky and Tom von Fischer live in a Wayzata retirement community and voted for Biden despite sharing concerns about his age. They said they saw no viable alternative.

“We do have some younger politicians who I believe would be excellent choices. For instance, Amy Klobuchar,” said Becky von Fischer, 78, referring to Minnesota’s DFL U.S. senator.

Tom von Fischer said he just turned 80 and feels sharp. “But would I want to be president? No,” he said.

Neither Chute nor the von Fischers were keen on Phillips, their congressman.

“I know why he’s doing it. He’s doing it to prevent the status quo,” Chute said, but she also called him hypocritical, adding, “I just can’t read his direction.”

In addition to their ages, Biden and Trump face other concerns from voters.

Progressive Democrats pushed supporters to check “uncommitted” on their ballots as a message to Biden about his handling of the conflict in Gaza. Their aim is a cease-fire because of the horrific humanitarian conditions since the Israeli incursion that began after Oct. 7, when Hamas killed more than 1,160 Israelis.

“Biden should have the courage to stand up for Palestinians,” said Steven Hatcher, 55, who was at the Brian Coyle Community Center in Minneapolis and voted uncommitted. “We have a president who is middle of the road, and he might lose because of it.”

He’s open to voting for Biden in November, “if he acts right” and calls for a cease-fire.

Also in Minneapolis, Muna Farah, 26 and a student at the University of Minnesota, said she voted uncommitted because of Gaza. “I need something other than Joe. I voted for him last time. I’m not voting for him again,” Farah said. “Trump, respectively, is better than Joe at the moment.”

For Trump, there is unease over his behavior and extensive legal problems in both criminal and civil courts related to his public and private life.

In Waite Park, just outside of St. Cloud, 62-year-old Mary Kjer voted for Trump despite misgivings. “I like that he treats our country like a business,” Kjer said. “I don’t like his mouth. But I like how he ran the country. It seemed like if he said he was going to do something, he did it.”

Also in Waite Park, Don Ramsey, 78, was a Trump voter but he’s flipped. “I’m basically anti-Trump,” he said. “I voted for Trump the first time. I don’t like his goals or what he’s doing — his name-calling of people. I have no respect for him.”

His wife, Bonnie Ramsey, 79, of Waite Park, said, “I wouldn’t vote for Trump if he was the only one running. I think he’s a blowhard. I think he’s a liar. I think he’s a cheat.”

Mohamed Ali, 62, a Bloomington resident who works in social services and grew up in Somalia, said he would vote for Biden. Ali said he has more of an issue with the Republican party than Trump himself.

“They recreated racism, discrimination, and a lot of other things that aren’t good,” Ali said.

He wants whoever is president to focus more on issues in the U.S., especially homelessness and racism.

“We have people sleeping in the streets, we have to think about our own people here,” Ali said.

Staff writers Jenny Berg and Louis Krauss contributed to this report.