Swing states played pivotal roles in the last presidential election where Biden barely nudged past former President Donald Trump. These same states are expected to be the difference in who wins the 2024 tilt between the two presumptive nominees.
Democrats believe they can create an edge in 2024 by pulling some liberal sympathizing Republicans away from Trump. What transpired in a recent swing state primary could add fuel to that political fire if Republicans aren’t careful.
Former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley dropped out of the GOP primary race last month. But her name is still giving Trump campaign officials fits after ballot tallies last Tuesday.
From Blaze Media:
Haley, who dropped her Republican presidential primary bid last month, won more than 16% of the vote in the Pennsylvania Republican presidential primary, unofficial results indicate.Haley got more than 157,000 votes while Trump received more than 790,000, according to the unofficial results.
That is a huge percentage of GOP voters who wanted their voices of opposition heard. Republican Party officials must consider this level of discontent among voters who will be needed to swing Pennsylvania into the red column on election night.
According to vote.pa.gov, Pennsylvania voters can only cast ballots in the primary for the political party in which they are registered. Republicans can’t cross-vote into the Democratic primary and vice versa.
Biden may also be facing discontent in his party as more than 6% of Democrat voters punched their ballots for Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota who dropped his primary bid last month. Biden still won handily by bringing in 941,000 votes.
Those are big numbers against Trump – Haley’s 16% of Republican voters and Biden’s total votes of 941,000. GOP campaigners have a lot of work to do heading into November to shift Haley’s votes to Trump and counteract Biden’s ability to reign in a larger part of the overall voting pool.
Since 1992, Republicans have only won Pennsylvania once – in 2016 with Trump’s election. The 2024 election pits two of the oldest candidates for the White House in American history. Biden would be 86 by the end of his second term and Trump would be 82 by the end of his second term if he were to unseat the incumbent.
Key Takeaways:
- Nikki Haley isn’t in the 2024 race, and she won 16% of votes in the Pennsylvania GOP primary.
- Trump posted a solid majority win but the number of votes against him could be a concern.
- Biden also faced an opposition vote when Dean Phillips grabbed 6% of Democrat votes.
Source: Blaze Media