With the 35 precincts in Sherburne County reporting from Tuesday’s presidential primary, Donald Trump won for the GOP with 98.70% of the votes. Joe Biden had 46.22% of the votes and was declared the winner for the DFL.

Trump ran uncontested and there were 37 write-in candidates for the Republicans.

In Sherburne County, the numbers pre-canvassing were 8,893 voters casting a ballot of choice out of 56,862 registered voters. Comparing this to the primary election turnout in August of 2018 of 10,203 people voting or the 2016 primary of 4,224, Tuesday’s numbers fall in between those years.

This election, however, was not like the primary elections run in August where as all the candidates are on one ballot and the voter does not have to declare a party, but must vote within party lines in the primary election. The decision for this process was made by the parties involved.

Local caucuses in the State of Minnesota were held Feb. 25, but no candidates were selected at that time.

Biden was contested  Tuesday by a huge field of DFLers including many who had already dropped out of the race. Bernie Sanders garnered 27.15% (1,641 votes) while Michael Bloomberg pulled in 10.34% (625 votes). As of Wednesday, Bloomberg announced he, too, was pulling out of the race.

Earlier in the week, Minnesota’s own Amy Klobuchar also pulled the plug on her quest for POTUS and quickly threw her allegiance to the Biden campaign, which apparently aided the former VP in Minnesota.

Party lists of candidates were submitted to the state no later than 63 days before the date of the presidential primary. The GOP submitted their list Dec. 31 and the DFL their list Dec. 17. Once the party’s list was submitted, changes could not be made to candidates that appeared on the ballot, even if they dropped out in the meantime.

For those who chose absentee voting but found out their candidates had dropped out of the race in the recent weeks, they were asked to contact the election office they received their ballot from and either have a new ballot mailed to them or were asked to vote in person as long as their original ballot was canceled one week before election day.

Others on the ballot for Democrats were Deval Patrick, Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, John K. Delaney, Marianne Williamson, Andrew Yang, Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard, Cory Booker and Michael Bennett.

Tuesday’s presidential primary was the first in the state of Minnesota since 1992. The decision to do so was made by the political parties to find out who the public likes as a candidate. In 1992, Sherburne County saw voter turnout reach 2,775.

At Becker City, 408 citizens voted. For the GOP, Trump received 145 votes while four write-ins were tabulated. For the DFL, 117 votes went to Biden, 64 to Sanders, 31 to Warren, 26 to Bloomberg, 17 to Klobuchar, two to Steyer, one to Gabbard and one to uncommitted.

At Clear Lake City, 55 voters went to the polls with 19 voting for Trump, two for Klobuchar, 10 to Sanders, one to Warren, four to Bloomberg and 19 to Biden.

At Big Lake City (three precincts), 1,072 citizens voted with 367 voting for Trump, nine had write-ins. For DFLers, Bennett (1), uncommitted (2), Biden (293), Bloomberg (67), Gabbard (3), Warren (62), Yang (2), Sanders (237), Williamson (1), Klobuchar (18), Buttigieg (8), Steyer (1), Patrick (2).

At Baldwin Twp., 252 voters chose Trump (97 votes) for GOP. For DFL, Buttigieg (1), Klobuchar (3), Sanders (40), Warren (7), Gabbard (2), Bloomberg (18), Biden (81), Bennett (1) and uncommitted got two.

For Becker Twp., 389 showed up at the polls with 149 voting for Trump. Biden was the top vote-getter for the Democrats with 112 followed by Sanders (60), Warren (29), Bloomberg (26), Klobuchar (7), Buttigieg (3), uncommitted (2) and Patrick (1).

Big Lake Twp. had 283 people vote with Trump receiving 80 votes for the GOP with two write-ins. For DFLers, Biden received 118 votes followed by Sanders (42), Bloomberg (15), Klobuchar (13), Warren (10), Buttigieg (2) and Gabbard (1).

Clear Lake Twp. saw 159 citizens come through their polls with 42 voting for Trump (one write-in). Biden too the most votes for the Democrats with 59 followed by Sanders at 24, Bloomberg at 16, Warren at 11, Klobuchar at 4, Buttigieg at one and Gabbard at one.

Haven Twp. had 180 voters with Trump garnering 54 of those votes. Biden captured 70 for the Democrats followed by 23 from Sanders, 19 for Bloomberg, 13 for Klobuchar, 10 for Warren, and one for Yang.

Blue Hill Twp. saw 180 citizens vote Tuesday with Trump getting 73 votes and one write-in. Biden took most votes for the DFL with 53 followed by 25 for Sanders, 14 for Warren, nine for Gabbard, two for Klobuchar, one for Buttigieg, one for Bennett and one uncommitted.

Livonia Twp. had 314 voters in three precincts who selected Trump with 210, two were write-ins, Biden got 152, Sanders 65, Bloomberg 33, Warren 32, Klobuchar 18, Bennet 1, Steyer 1, Buttigieg 4 and  Gabbard 1.

Orrock Twp. had 272 voters. Trump pulled in 94 while one was a write-in. For DFLers, Biden received 89 votes, Sanders (48), Bloomberg (19), Warren (16), Klobuchar (4) and Gabbard (1).

Palmer Twp. had 235 voters with Trump notching 73 of those votes. Biden had 76, Sanders 39, Bloomberg 25, Warren 12, Klobuchar 5, uncommitted 3, Buttigieg 1 and Gabbard 1.

For Santiago Twp., 143 people voted with 65 votes going for Trump. Biden reeled in 29 votes, Sanders 23, Bloomberg 13, Warren 7, Klobuchar 4 and Gabbard 2.

City of Elk River had eight districts that had 2,669 voters. Trump received 740 votes with six write-ins. Biden received 904 votes, Sanders 474, Bloomberg 204, Warren  210, Klobuchar 88, Buttigieg 19,  Yang 2, Bennet 2, uncommitted 4, Gabbard 6.

WRIGHT COUNTY

Clearwater City and Clearwater Twp. polling stations reported “slow but steady” attendance at Tuesday’s presidential primary.

According to the secretary of state’s website, 45 precincts in Wright County participated with 12,080 votes cast. Donald Trump took home 3,298 votes while 41 votes were cast for write-ins. Steyer received seven votes, Buttigieg 77, Klobuchar 395, Castro 1, Delaney 2, Williamson 2, Sanders 2,053, Yang 22, Warren 880, Gabbard 36, Bloomberg 933, Biden 4,294, uncommitted 33, Booker 1 and Bennet 5.

Clearwater City

Out of 135 votes cast, 43 went to Trump, 43 went to Biden, 22 for Sanders, 13 for Bloomberg, 2 for Gabbard, 2 for uncommitted, one for Klobuchar and one for write-in.

Clearwater Twp.

Out of 146 votes cast, 49 were for Trump, 47 for Biden, 22 for Sanders, 16 for Bloomberg, eight for Warren, three for Klobuchar and one as a write-in.