Tuesday’s primaries weren’t quite the wins Donald Trump wishes they were. Nikki Haley may have dropped out of the presidential race back in March, but she’s still getting votes from Republicans who don’t want another Trump presidency. But that doesn’t mean it’s a win for President Joe Biden.
Haley received 20% of the vote in Maryland’s Republican primary and 18% in Nevada’s. She’d previously raked in nearly 22% of Indiana’s votes.
Like Democrats who voted “uncommitted” in their party’s primary instead of voting for Biden, it seems some Republican voters are trying to signal to the party that they aren’t satisfied with the likely party candidate.
As we head into November and add third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the ballot, Democrats should be wary of getting too giddy about Haley’s political resurgence. All signs point to widespread frustration with how this election year is turning out.
Polls show voters dislike Trump and Biden
Polling shows that this discontent isn’t shocking. An April Pew Research report found that nearly half of registered voters prefer different presidential candidates. A Monmouth University poll from the same month found that 1 in 6 voters have “unfavorable views” of both candidates.
There’s also a swath of people tired of this election altogether. In an April NBC poll, voter interest in the election was shown to be at a 20-year low. And among those certain they’re voting, Biden is still lagging. According to a new poll from The New York Times, Siena College and The Philadelphia Inquirer, he is polling points below Trump in five of six battleground states.
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To anyone who’s been paying attention, the animosity Americans feel toward this election shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Nikki Haley isn’t budging on Trump
Trump isn’t getting much help from Haley, who has not endorsed the former president. On the other hand, she suspended her campaign after Super Tuesday and hasn’t been campaigning.
If Haley isn’t budging on Trump, I doubt her voters will, either. Trump also hasn’t made an effort to win them over. Meanwhile Biden said in a March statement that he believed he and Haley supporters could find “common ground.”
There are probably a few Haley voters who will move to Biden, but it’s doubtful that it’ll be enough to move the needle — especially if more of them stick with the Republicans in the end or don’t vote for the presidency altogether.
Some key differences in protest votes Biden is still getting
“Uncommitted” voters are also a smaller portion of the votes in the Democratic primary. The “uncommitted” vote for Biden accumulated 10.4% of the vote in Tuesday’s Maryland primary; an “uncommitted” or “no preference” option wasn’t on the Nebraska or West Virginia Democratic ballots. By the end of April, over 500,000 people had voted “uncommitted,” “no preference,” or the equivalent version in their state.
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It’s worth noting that the comparison to “uncommitted” voters isn’t exact. For starters, Haley has won 97 delegates; “uncommitted” voters have earned 27. Marianne Williamson is still in the Democratic race despite earning zero delegates thus far. Meanwhile, all of the Republicans taking on Trump have dropped out.
Aside from the discrepancies in numbers, Haley is likely capturing votes from moderates. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is still attracting the most radical voters in their base. “Uncommitted” voters, on the other hand, are the most progressive members of the Democratic voting bloc.
How many more signs does either party need to see that their presumptive nominees are both disappointing? The polls show it, and people are feeling it. Sure, there’s no perfect candidate, but it doesn’t mean American voters should have to settle for voting for the “lesser of two evils” once again. Surely, both parties can do better.
For now, it’s amusing that two candidates could be so terrible that they’re losing votes despite being the only two people who matter still in the race. It will get less funny the closer we get to November.
