Trump, Biden win county as predicted

The outcome of elections in Union County was really never in doubt from the time the first box came in.

Incumbent Republican President Donald J. Trump received more than 99 percent of the vote for his party’s nomination, as expected.

On the Democratic side, former Vice-President Joe Biden didn’t do that well, but still received more than 76 percent of the vote while Bernie Sanders got 17 percent.

Mike Espy clearly won the Democratic nomination for senator with 90 percent of the vote while Antonia Eliason was unopposed for the Democratic nomination for the House of Representatives.

Incumbent Republicans Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Rep. Trent Kelly were unopposed in their races.

Unless the statewide totals change dramatically, no local runoff will be needed in three weeks.

That means it is likely Trump and Biden will face each other in November for the state’s electoral votes for president. Hyde-Smith will be challenged by Espy, who opposed her in the previous election.

Incumbent Kelly will be challenged by Democrat Antonia Eliason.

The predictability of the races may have contributed to the lack of interest. Only 25 percent of the county’s 16,199 registered voters participated Tuesday. About three times as many people voted in the Republican primary as in the Democratic primary, even though voters actually had more choices on the Democratic ticket.

Although 10 Democratic candidates were listed on the ballot for president, all but three had suspended their campaigns before Tuesday. Even so, Michael Bloomberg received four percent of the vote. The other candidates received some votes but all were less than one percent of the total.

Below are county totals for all 20 precincts, including 180 absentee ballots. There were 11 affidavit ballots cast when, for instance, a voter did not have a valid ID or registration information may have been mismatched. Affidavit voters have until next Tuesday to provide information to allow their votes to be counted.

Democrat

President

Joseph R. Biden 753

Tulsi Gabbard 7

Bernie Sanders 170

Senate

Tobey Bartee 41

Jensen Bohren 48