Primary election results: Biden, Trump win Kentucky

Donald Trump was declared an early victor in Kentucky's primary election while President Joe Biden secured his nomination in the commonwealth Tuesday night.

Results published by the Associated Press heralded Biden's and Trump's victories in their primary races while other political heavyweights, such as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, struggled to keep pace.

Kentucky primary election results: Trump, Biden tapped victors

Trump pulled 84.9% of reported votes for Kentucky's primary election this year. During 2020's primary, Trump — who ran unopposed — received 86.6% of Kentucky's votes.

In 2020, Biden pulled 67.7% of Kentucky's primary votes compared to second-place contender Bernie Sanders' 12.1%. This year, primary election results signaled Biden as an early winner for the commonwealth with 71.3% of votes, with 98% of estimated votes tallied.

How did other Republican, Democratic candidates do in Kentucky?

While the Republican party's candidate pool looks crowded on the ballot, with such names as Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, many have already suspended their campaigns, leaving Trump as the only remaining Republican contender.

Haley was the last candidate to concede, suspending her campaign in early March after being defeated by Trump across the nation on Super Tuesday. Despite already conceding, Haley landed in second place by pulling 6.4% of Kentucky votes as of late Tuesday night.

Haley pulled more than 21% of the primary votes in neighboring state Indiana earlier this month.

Haley faced sharp criticism by local politicians, such as U.S. Sen. Rand Paul. In January, Paul had some positive remarks about most of the Republican presidential candidates while publicly lobbying against Haley.

"I don't think any informed or knowledgeable libertarian or conservative should support Nikki Haley," Paul said in a social media post shared on X, urging people to register at nevernikki.net.

In the Democratic primary, Biden only faced off against one candidate who had yet to concede — Marianne Williamson.

Williamson suspended her campaign in February after losing the Nevada primary, but relaunched her campaign three weeks later with an announcement on X, formerly known as Twitter. She has pulled about 6% of the statewide primary votes.

Many Kentucky voters 'uncommitted' in 2024 presidential primary

While the candidate pool is so narrowed for both the Republican and Democratic nomination, some voters were labeled as "uncommitted" to a particular presidential candidate in the race.

In the Democratic primary, 17.9% of voters elected to be "uncommitted," which was the second most popular option chosen compared to Biden's over-70% victory.

Only 10.8% of voters voted “uncommitted” in 2020’s primary election for the commonwealth. In comparison, Donald Trump, Biden’s likely adversary for November’s general election, only received about 3.6% of uncommitted voters this year in Kentucky’s primary.

Trump, Biden win handedly in Jefferson County

In Jefferson County, with about 99% of estimated votes tallied, Biden pulled 82.1% of the Democratic primary vote while Trump scored the Republican nomination with 77.9%.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky 2024 primary see Joe Biden, Donald Trump win