Biden clinches Democratic nomination, with Trump closing in on Republican

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump won primary elections in Georgia and Mississippi on Tuesday, with Biden sealing the Democratic nomination.

Both men captured nearly all the votes cast so far in what had become token state primaries, along with the primary for Democrats Abroad and the Republican caucus in Hawaii. Biden also won the Northern Mariana Islands primary Tuesday morning, earning 11 delegates.

In Georgia, a nascent effort to register opposition to the Biden administration’s support for the war in Gaza could not be easily expressed with “no preference” protest votes in Georgia, because the ballot does not provide a way to do so. One woman in Roswell, Georgia described voting for Representative Dean Phillips, who dropped out of the Democratic contest last week, as a substitute.

“I voted a protest vote against the war in Gaza because I think it is horrible what is happening and I’m ashamed of my country right now,” said Robin Hawking, 56, a software developer from Roswell. She said she is normally a Republican voter. “I’m hoping if enough people vote for not-Biden, he’ll get the message that he’s going to lose this election unless he does a cease fire.”

Uchenna Nwosu, a gynecologist, said her decision was a no-brainer.

“It’s clear that I couldn’t vote for somebody who repealed women’s rights for abortion, for instance, for healthcare,” she said. “I don’t know why Trump should be in the race. I mean, that alone is a good reason. He doesn’t stand for anything that I stand for. So that’s it.”

Trump ran unopposed in Georgia, though other names appeared still appeared on the ballot, attracting a few voters.

Scott Carpenter of Roswell voted for former ambassador Nikki Haley because he hated Trump, he said. He voted for Biden in