Biden, Trump snap up more primary victories as key congressional races decided
June 4 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were unsurprisingly poised to win their parties' nominations for president in a handful of states Tuesday night, after voters cast ballots in several primaries that held key congressional races.
The primaries were held in Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, with Washington, D.C., Democrats voting for their nominee as the Republicans already held their contest in March. South Dakota Republicans also axed its presidential primary as Trump was running uncontested.
The Presidential Race
Biden and Trump have all but officially secured their parties' nominations, but eyes were turned to see how the former president's recent felony conviction may affect voters.
Trump was found guilty Thursday on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments paid in 2016 to keep a porn star quiet about an alleged affair they had, fearing her going public could turn voters against the then-New York real estate mogul-turned presidential candidate.
Late Tuesday local time, Trump was poised to handily take New Mexico with 84% of the vote, but Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who dropped out of the race in March, had garnered more than 8,000 votes, representing 9% of the vote share with more than 92% of precincts reporting.
"Uncommitted Delegate" also netted more than 3,000 votes and Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who dropped out of the presidential race in January, was sitting at 3% of the vote share with more than 2,400 votes.
In Montana, Trump had 90% of vote. "No Preference" had the remaining 10%, but few precincts had yet reported as of 11:50 p.m. MT.
Along with South Dakota, Trump ran unopposed in New Jersey, but his victory was far from flawless in The Garden State as there were several thousand write-ins challenging his nomination.
Biden took all four states plus Washington, D.C., whose Republicans in early March had handed Haley an historic victory by anointing her their presidential candidate with nearly two-thirds of the vote.
In the nation's capital, Biden had just over 87% of the vote, with write-ins taking 7% and writer Marianne Williamson sitting at 4.5% as of 11:22 p.m. EST.
In Montana, Biden easily won the state with 92% of the vote, but "No Preference" had taken more than 6,000 votes for 8% with 19% of precincts reporting.
New Jersey saw Biden with nearly 88% of the vote with "Uncommitted" getting nearly 9%.
In New Mexico, the president had 84% of the vote share with more than 92% of precincts counting, but Williamson and "Uncommitted Delegate" ate up the remainder, with the former getting 7% and the latter 10%.
Biden's victory in South Dakota was also severely blemished with the president only netting 73% of the vote. Williamson won 12% and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who dropped out of the race in March, secured 11%.
"To be American is to defend democracy -- that's something Donald Trump will never understand," Biden said on his personal X account Tuesday night.
Key Congressional Races
Montana
Businessman Tim Sheehy was poised to win the Republican Primary to challenge for the sole Senate seat up for grabs in The Treasure State.
The seat is held by Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, who easily won his party's primary Tuesday.
But the seat is seen as vulnerable in the Red state and Republicans are hoping to flip it come fall.
Sheehy, a Minnesota transplant, is an ex-Navy SEAL who has had Trump's endorsement since February. He's running on a conservative platform that includes anti-abortion and border security among its 12 pillars.
On Tuesday night, he had 74% of the vote with his nearest challenger, Brad Johnson, netting 19%.
"Thank you, Montana!" Sheehy said Tuesday night on X as he claimed victory in the contest.
"I am humbled and honored by all the support and look forward to finally retiring the #1 recipient of lobbyist cash and pro-Biden liberal @JonTester."
Tester responded to Sheehy's victory by stating he's going to win the November general election -- which is setting up to be a big race.
"It's official," he said on X. "I'm facing off against [Senate majority leader] Mitch McConnell's handpicked candidate Tim Sheehy for Montana's U.S. Senate seat. And I'm going to win."
New Jersey
Democrat Rep. Rob Menendez, the son of embattled Sen. Bob Menendez, claimed victory over Ravinder Bhalla and Kyle Jasey, with netting more than 50% of the vote to hold onto New Jersey's Eight District seat.
"We always said we would do this together and we did," he said on X.
"Tonight, was a great success, but the work continues on tomorrow. And we will continue to fight for and deliver for all the residents of our incredible district."
The victory came in spite of his father and mother, Nadine, facing separate trials on charges of bribery, obstruction and acting as a foreign agent.
The senior Menendez and his wife are accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for political influence. The senator is also accused of acting as a foreign agent of Egypt. They have both pleaded not guilty.
Rep. Andy Kim easily won the Democratic primary for the Senate seat held by Bob Menendez, who on Monday announced he would run for re-election as an independent.
Kim had for months been gearing to oust the 70-year-old Menendez until he dropped his Democrat affiliation.
"What we achieved over the last eight months is remarkable," Kim said on X following his victory.
"We built a stunningly powerful grassroots movement that took down the unfair ballot line and changed NJ politics forever. Now we are ready to take our movement for change to the U.S. Senate!"
