Minnesotans head to the polls Tuesday and join voters in 14 other states holding presidential primaries to award the largest number of delegates of the campaign season so far. Iowa will also release the results of its Democratic caucus results. Both the Republican and Democratic parties will dole out more than one-third of the total number of delegates that will nominate their eventual standard-bearer on Super Tuesday.
It’s Super Tuesday in Minnesota and the polls are open
Unlike other state primaries, voters will only decide on their preferred candidate for president.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 5, 2024 at 2:03PM
Few voters visited the polling location at the Brian Coyle Center Neighborhood Center in the Seward neighborhood on Tuesday morning. Assistant Election Judge Mahad Ahmed said two people cast ballots within the first two hours of opening.
He expects more to file through in the evening — many voters in the precinct work 9-5 jobs, Ahmed said. Another three people cast a ballot by 10 a.m., bringing the morning’s total to five. Two of them, who declined to be named, voted uncommitted.
“We don’t know what to expect,” Ahmed said.
Democrats are also holding a presidential primary in American Samoa. In the North Star State, the Legal Marijuana Now party will host a nominating contest featuring five candidates. Polls opened at 7 a.m. in Minnesota, and they close at 8 p.m.
Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have so far won every statewide contest for the Democratic and Republican nominations, respectively.
But Biden has been plagued by a dearth of enthusiasm and a campaign criticizing his administration’s response to the war in Gaza. A coalition of progressive activists is urging Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party voters to choose “uncommitted” on their ballots to press the White House on a cease-fire agreement in the region. U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips has also launched a long-shot campaign to unseat the president to mixed reactions in Minnesota and beyond. In Michigan, Phillips trailed the “uncommitted” vote.
Trump, who faces 91 criminal counts in four jurisdictions, has glided through every state primary so far. But voters in Washington, D.C., awarded their 19 delegates to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the only presidential hopeful for a major party who has campaigned in Minnesota so far.
Republicans across the country benefited from favorable tailwinds as President-elect Donald Trump resoundingly defeated Democrat Kamala Harris. But that wasn’t the whole story in Minnesota.
