What Wisconsin's presidential primary results tell us about Biden, Trump vulnerabilities
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- April elections are not typically a key indicator of what November's results will be, but it can provide a snapshot of how voters are feeling about the upcoming presidential race.
While the current and former president cruised to victory as expected during Tuesday's presidential primary, Joe Biden and Donald Trump both lost tens of thousands of votes to other options on the ballot.
CBS 58 spoke to both state party chairs about the results and what it means for their base.
Republicans Not All-In on Trump
For Republicans, one takeaway was the more than 124,000 voters who decided to vote for someone other than former President Donald Trump.
Even though Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee after all his opponents dropped out of the race, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley received more than 76,000 votes, or nearly 13%.
Brian Schimming, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said it's a work in progress to unify their base.
"Of course we want to reach out and get folks who maybe voted that way or intended to vote that way in an active primary, that's a project," Schimming said. "But it's not a situation where I'm saying we'll never get those people back."
The former president still dominated the evening by securing more than 475,000 votes or nearly 80%, according to unofficial results.
"Uninstructed" Impact on Biden
The option to vote "uninstructed" Tuesday revealed some vulnerabilities for President Joe Biden.
Among the 576,299 Democrats who voted, more than 48,000 cast a protest vote to express their concern with Biden's handling of the ongoing war in Gaza.
Ben Wikler, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said he's remaining optimistic that come November they'll win back those voters.
"It's very different to cast a protest vote about a policy right now than it is to say there's no way you'll ever support someone," said Wikler. "I think the opportunity is here to make sure the people are heard."
Biden received more than 88.6% of the total votes cast. Dean Phillips, who dropped out of the race and backed Biden, took in more than 17,000 votes.
Other Takeaways
Republicans had a slight edge in the number of ballots cast across the state with nearly 600,000 GOP ballots compared to the more than 576,000 Democratic ones.
Bottom line: Republicans and Democrats have some work to do until November in the swing state that will once again play a pivotal role in who wins the White House.