Biden earns easy win over other candidates in Hawaii’s Democratic presidential caucus
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Democrats in Hawaii made their voices heard and made their pick for the party’s presidential nominee on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden had a landslide victory as the Democratic presidential nominee with 1,032 votes cast and 66% of the vote.
Registered Democrats were offered a chance to cast a ballot as “Uncommitted,” and 455 voters — or 29.1% — did so.
On the ballot with President Biden were U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, self-help author Marianne Williamson, who recently reentered the race after dropping out early last month, and two lesser-known candidates.
Biden was trailed by Jason Michael Palmer with 6 votes (0.4%), Armondo “Mando” Perez Serrato with 5 (0.3%), Dean Phillips with 15 (1%), and Marianne Williamson with 50 (3.2%).
Individuals must be registered to vote and enrolled members of the Democratic Party of Hawaii in order to vote.
Some told Hawaii News Now that they weren’t aware the caucus was happening so soon. Party officials told HNN that the last caucus was held by mail, but funds fell short to do so again this year.
State Democratic party officials originally planned to hold an entirely vote-by-mail primary on April 6, but in January they submitted a new plan to the Democratic National Committee, changing the event to a smaller scale and less expensive caucus vote.
Party Executive Director Erynn Fernandez said the money that was raised would be used instead to promote local Democratic candidates in this year’s elections.
Part of the reason why Hawaii’s Democratic caucus doesn’t create big headlines is because Hawaii is considered a deeply blue state. Based on national party trends, party leaders believed President Biden was the clear front-runner in the Aloha State.
But polls show President Biden is still facing opposition on his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
In fact, the president didn’t win in American Samoa.
He lost to relatively unknown candidate Jason Palmer who told the Associated Press he had never been there and only campaigned through Zoom.
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden won big on Super Tuesday, moving closer to clinching each of their parties nominations.
On the GOP side, Nikki Haley has now officially suspended her campaign.
While Trump continues to fight multiple legal battles, he enjoys a recent Supreme Court victory — justices declaring states cannot remove him from their ballots.
About 15,000 voters took part in the last Hawaii GOP caucus in 2016.
Hawaii GOP Chair Tamara McKay hopes to double that amount this year and boost grassroots involvement. The Hawaii GOP Party will hold their caucuses on March 12.
This year’s primary election is set for Aug. 10 and the general election will happen on Nov. 5.
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