WASHINGTON (AP) — Missouri and Louisiana are going to have presidential primaries on Saturday, giving President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump more opportunities to gather delegates.
Biden will be part of the Democratic primary in both states. Republicans will only vote in Louisiana because the Missouri GOP already had caucuses on March 2.
None of the contests will be suspenseful. Biden and Trump have already secured their party nominations and defeated their main competitors. However, the primary races are still closely monitored by insiders for turnout and signs of protest voters.
For Biden, some progressives are expressing their anger with Israel’s war against Hamas after the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack. Reports indicate that more than 30,000 people, with two-thirds of them being women and children, have been killed by Gaza authorities since Israel launched its offensive. A protest movement initiated by Arab American communities in Michigan has expanded to several other states.
Trump is the predominant figure in his party and has secured a third consecutive Republican nomination. However, he faces opposition from individuals concerned about the significant legal jeopardy he is facing, or critical of his time in the White House, which ended shortly after the Jan. 6 insurrection instigated by his supporters and fueled by his unfounded theories of election fraud.
The Missouri Democratic Party's primary on Saturday will be their first party-run presidential contest since a new law went into effect in August 2022. Louisiana’s primaries, on the other hand, occur almost four years after the state was the first to postpone its primaries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
