Biden wins Hawaii Democratic primary

President Biden has won the Hawaii Democratic presidential primary, inching him closer to clinching the Democratic nomination, according to a Decision Desk HQ projection.

Biden won all but one of the contests on Super Tuesday, making it almost mathematically certain that he will be the Democratic nominee. His win in the Aloha State likely will add most of the state’s 22 pledged delegates to his total.

Hawaii Democrats allocate eight of their delegates proportionally based on performance in the state overall and seven based on performance in each of the state’s two congressional districts.

Biden faced nominal opposition on the ballot with Marianne Williamson, an author and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who dropped out of the race Wednesday after failing to gain traction, also appeared on the ballot.

Also on the ballot was Jason Palmer, an entrepreneur who won a surprise victory in American Samoa’s Democratic caucuses on Tuesday. Palmer is on the ballot in only 16 states and territories.

Voters could also choose an uncommitted option to not select any of the listed candidates. Some Democrats have pushed for voters to cast an uncommitted ballot in states that permit it as a protest vote against Biden’s position on the war between Israel and Hamas.

Biden has overwhelmingly won most of the contests he has competed in, but the uncommitted vote has yielded some delegates from Michigan’s primary last week and Minnesota’s primary on Tuesday. The effort had its best performance yet in Minnesota, with just less than 19 percent of the vote as of the latest count.