BOISE, Idaho – Idaho Democrats on Thursday selected Joe Biden as their White House nominee, giving the president more delegates after he already clinched his party’s 2024 nomination.
Biden won the state Democratic caucus with 95% of the vote in a low-turnout election, with just over 2,400 votes cast. Victory gives the president all 23 delegates at stake.
The political convention was structured a little differently than previous Democratic conventions. Instead of listening to speeches and moving to various parts of the room to demonstrate their support for a candidate, voters received ballots to fill in their choices.
Only registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters were allowed to participate. Unaffiliated voters first had to sign a pledge stating that they are participating as Democrats and that they have not participated in any other presidential nomination contests this year. Voters aged 17 can participate as long as they turn 18 before the November 5 general election.
This is different from the Idaho Republican convention held earlier this year. The Republican convention allowed only registered Republicans to vote, and they had to be at least 18 years old at the time of the convention. Former President Donald Trump won all 32 of Idaho’s Republican delegates at the March 2 event.
Biden will face a steep hill to climb heading into the Idaho general election. The Republican presidential candidate has won the deep-red state in every election since 1968.
Democrats in Idaho have used caucuses for years, but switched the presidential contest to a primary in 2020. Biden won with about 49% of the vote, compared with about 42% that went to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
However, both the Republican and Democratic parties had to come together this year after state lawmakers inadvertently canceled the state’s primaries during the 2023 legislative session. The mistake happened when lawmakers were trying to change the date of the state’s primary from March to May, but the new date was not included in the project.
Next year, close presidential contests in Idaho could become a thing of the past. A ballot initiative that would open state primaries and shift the state to a ranked-choice voting system is expected to be on the general election ballot this fall.
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