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Donald Trump won the Pennsylvania Republican primary with 82.8% of the vote. The Keystone State’s primary is a closed primary, meaning only Republicans can vote.
Butisthiscauseforworry?TrumpwonPennsylvaniain2016by44,000votes.Bidenwonthestatein2020by80,000.However,formercandidateNikkiHaley,whodroppedoutamonthago,received16.5%ofthevoteinthisyear’sprimary,orabout156,000votes.That’sahealthysliceoftheelectorateinastatesoevenlydivided.
WecanassumethatasignificantportionofHaley’svotesaregoingtobe“holdyournoseandvoteforTrump”voters.TheDispatch’sDavidDruckerwrites,“ProtestvotesinfavorofHaleyhavebeenapersistentproblemforTrump,signalingaportionoftheGOPisdissatisfiedwithhimdespitehisstatusasthepresumptivenominee.”
TheWashingtonPost’sAaronBlakecompiledalistofstateswiththe“protestvotes.”
Notethatmostofthosestatesaredeepredordeepblue,meaningthatthe“protestvote”againstTrumpmatterslittle.ExceptforPennsylvania.
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