CLEVELAND — President Joe Biden has won Ohio's Democratic primary in one of the least surprising results of this Election Day.
NBC News called the race for the incumbent president just minutes after polls closed at 7:30 p.m. While Biden technically faced competition on the ballot from Minnesota U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, the congressman had already suspended his campaign and endorsed the president earlier this month.
Biden has already won enough delegates to clinch his party's nomination as he seeks a second term in the White House. Back in 2020, the former vice president also won a delayed Ohio primary (after all of his major opponents had dropped out) before eventually topping Republican incumbent Donald Trump in the general election.
Four years ago, Biden became the first president to win the election without carrying Ohio since John F. Kennedy in 1960. The state has undergone somewhat of a rightward shift in recent years, with Trump winning it by roughly eight points in both 2016 and 2020.
Trump, who has clinched the GOP nomination for a third time as he vies for a second non-consecutive term, also easily won Ohio on Tuesday. Surveys show both he and Biden are deeply unpopular among the American general public as we head towards a rematch, with Biden's current approval rating actually somewhat lower that Trump's was at this time during the latter's presidency. Trump is also facing a litany of criminal indictments, accused of crimes such as paying a porn star to not talk about a prior affair to trying to steal the 2020 election he lost to Biden.
Author Marianne Williamson is still technically challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination, but she did not appear on the ballot in Ohio. This year's general election is set for Tuesday, Nov. 5.
