The Presidential Primary Races – February 21st, 2024
Bottom Line: After a week without any states voting for presidential candidates in either party, we’ll get back into the groove of things this week with a contest that has the potential to effectively seal the Republican nomination for Donald Trump. There remains a great deal of drama off the campaign trail as former President Trump’s legal matters remain front and center in the conversation following last Fridays record civil judgement against Trump in addition to the trial in Georgia to determine whether Fulton County DA Fani Willis will be able to continue with her attempted RICO prosecution against Trump and associates following revelations of potential corruption. For President Biden, he’s continuing to be plagued by the fallout from Special Prosecutor Robert Hur’s report, depicting a president whose memory is so poor, he doesn’t believe he’d be fit to stand trial.
This nomination season has taken on the feel of essentially two incumbents running for president based on the results in the states and territories that’ve voted.
Here's where the Republican candidates stand with pledged delegates (1,215 delegates needed to clinch nomination):
- Trump: 63 (68% of available delegates)
- Haley: 17 (18% of available delegates)
As for the Democrats (1,968 delegates needed to clinch nomination):
- Joe Biden: 91 (100% of available delegates)
- Dean Phillips: 0
As for what’s next? Republicans hold the next election in the nomination process with the party’s primary in South Carolina on Saturday, the 24th. South Carolina is Nikki Haley’s home state, and a strong showing is needed to help justify her continued place in this race. As for Democrats, they next vote on Tuesday the 27th in the Michigan. Notably that will be the first contest for Democrats since the Robert Hur report was disclosed. Dean Phillips, the remaining potentially credible Democrat in the race challenging President Biden, needs to be able to significantly capitalize on a growing number of Democrats who’ve expressed concern about the president’s viability in the race.