Former US President Donald Trump was on Wednesday widely expected to win the Republican Primary in Akansas State, just two days after the Supreme Court ruled that he could be on the ballot, overturning a Colorado court decision that had ordered he be excluded from the 2024 presidential ballot.
Some opinion polls have given Mr Trump a 77 per cent chance of clinching the Akansas vote — which would give him 39 party delegates. His closest challenger, Ms Nikki Haley, was projected to take 18 per cent of the state vote, which would earn her one delegate.
Other fringe candidates in the race for the Grand Old Party ticket are Mr Asa Hutchinson, who was ahead of the better-known Ron DeSantis — the governor of Florida State — and Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey.
“ABC News projects that President Joe Biden will win the Democratic primary and former President Donald Trump will win the Republican primary in Arkansas, based on analysis of the vote,” the American news channel said on its website on Wednesday.
President Biden, who had earlier said that he only decided to seek re-election after Mr Trump said he would seek the Republican ticket, is expected to be endorsed by the Democratic Party for a second term.
President Biden, 81, has in the recent months been the subject of public scrutiny in America and beyond over the state of his health, with critics saying this could give Mr Trump a real chance at a comeback despite the many legal hurdles he has faced, including the mid-February court ruling that fined him $355 million plus interest in a civil fraud case.
In his ruling, Justice Arthur F. Engoron banned Mr Trump from serving in any top roles at any New York company, including his own, for the next three years. If he chooses to pay the fine, analysts have said, this is likely to reduce his war chest for his presidential bid, although Mr Trump routinely raises large sums of money, compared to any of his political rivals, in campaign financing.
The Economist, in its February 10-16, 2024 edition, reported that all credible opinion polls conducted in the US showed President Biden and Mr Trump in a statistical dead heat. However, less credible polls have put Mr Trump slightly ahead by between two and six per cent of those polled. It also noted that the results varied based on the areas and demographics polled.
In 2023, six Colorado voters had gone to court seek to stop Mr Trump from being on the presidential ballot, citing the 2020 incident in which Mr Trump unsuccessfully sought to influence his own succession — and in effect remain in office — first by ordering his then Vice-President, Mr Mike Pence, not to announce Mr Trump as winner of the election and later allowing a mob to attack Capito Hill, the centre of US political power. Mr Trump later survived an attempt to indict him over the incident, arguing that he was shielded from prosecution for any actions he may have undertaken as president.
Following his clearance to vie in both Colorado — and in effect nationally — in a unanimous Supreme Court decision, Mr Trump said; “You cannot take someone out of a race because the opponent would like to have it that way… You cannot take someone out of a race. The voters can take the person out of the race very quickly, but a court shouldn’t be doing that.”
In a rejoinder, one of President Biden’s top election campaign managers said the Democratic Party presumptive candidate was keen on defeated Mr Trump at the ballot.
“It’s not been the way we’ve been planning to beat Donald Trump,” the campaign manager said in an interview with MSNBC, a US television channel. “Our focus since day one of launching this campaign has been to defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box.”
Americans go to the elections on November 5, 2024, to decide who between President Biden and Mr Trump, will be occupying the White House for a second time.
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