Biden, Trump easily win New York presidential primaries

Joe Biden and Donald Trump continued their march toward a 2020 rematch with victories on April 2 in New York’s presidential primaries that will add delegates to both presumptive nominees’ campaigns for the White House.

With approximately 70 per cent of the expected vote tallied as of 11:40 p.m. On April 2, Trump had 81.8 per cent of the vote. With approximately 61 per cent of the expected vote tallied as of 11:40 p.m. On April 2, Biden had 91.4 per cent of the vote, Spectrum News reports.

The clear frontrunners weren’t alone on the ballot, however. Democratic candidates Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who suspended his campaign, and author Mariane Williamson, who exited the race but recently re-entered, were also on the Democratic line. Appearing on the Republican ballot besides Trump was former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, all of whom have suspended their campaigns.

New York is a closed primary state, meaning only registered voters in those parties can take part.

The Empire State provides 268 Democratic delegates and 91 Republican delegates for the office of president. On the Republican side, there are 13 statewide delegates and 78 congressional district delegates. Both are winner-take-all prizes when a candidate exceeds 50 per cent of the vote. The Democrats also have pledged delegates based on the statewide vote and congressional districts, though they are allocated among any candidate who receives 15 per cent of the vote or more.

Depending on the final official results, Biden and Trump are expected to receive most, if not all, of their respective party’s delegates.

Both Biden and Trump in recent weeks already secured the required number of delegates to be their respective parties’ presumptive nominees. The conventions to officially nominate them will be held over the summer. The Democratic convention will be in Chicago while the Republican gathering will be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.