By Melanie Sun
Presidential nominees President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both won their respective party’s primary races in Louisiana on Saturday.
Both have already secured enough delegates to win their partys’ nominations for the upcoming general election on Nov. 2, although some continue watching the primary races for turnout and signals from protest voters.
Both nominees are expected to secure all 47 delegates allocated to the Pelican State. Louisiana is not expected to be a swing state in the upcoming election, historically backing Republican presidential nominees as a safe GOP state. It is assigned eight electoral votes.
President Biden won 86.1 percent of 143,371 votes with 99 percent counted. President Trump won 89.8 percent support with 172,474 votes.
Voter turnout varied by location for Republicans and Democrats. Republican turnout in the state’s most populous precinct, New Orleans, was significantly less (2,501) than for Democrats (27,533). Republicans led voter turnout in more rural parts of the state and in some parishes like Jefferson.
President Biden also appeared in Missouri’s Democratic primary, with results not expected to be reported until next week.
Saturday’s primary was the Missouri Democratic Party’s first party-run presidential contest since a new law took effect in August 2022. Louisiana’s primaries, meanwhile, come almost four years after the Pelican State was the first to postpone its primaries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
