Minnesota Election Season Begins

The 2024 election officially kicked off in Minnesota, with the primary on March 5.

The UMD Political Science Association holds a Mock Election before the 2023 midterm elections. Photo by, Grant Jones.

President Joe Biden won the Democratic primary, winning 70.7% of the vote. Minnesota US Representative Dean Phillips, who was running a longshot campaign focused on being an alternative to an aging President Biden, won 7.8% of the vote on Tuesday. After the poor showing, Phillips dropped out of the race and endorsed the president. 

Former President Donald Trump won the Republican primary with 69.1% of the vote. While the Republican field at the beginning of the year was full of potential candidates, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, by Super Tuesday, all but former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley had dropped out. 

The Minnesota primary was part of the larger Super Tuesday event, the day when most states hold primary elections and caucuses. Unsurprisingly, Biden won the Democratic primary in every participating state and  Trump won every state except Vermont, whose nine delegates supported Haley. 

However, the big story was the over 45,000 people who voted “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary. This was in response to a push from progressives and Muslim groups who protested Biden over his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas. 

On Monday, Biden and Trump both secured the necessary amount of delegates to win their respective party’s nomination. They will officially accept the nominations at their respective party’s conventions and face off in November, each hoping to secure a second term in office.