Four takeaways from Pueblo County's presidential primary elections

Coloradans and millions of other voters in various states went to the polls on Tuesday for the major party presidential primaries.

A matchup between incumbent President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump seems all the more likely. Nikki Haley, one of Trump’s only remaining political opponents in the GOP, suspended her campaign Wednesday morning.

Here are some takeaways from the presidential primary election and how Puebloans voted.

Pueblo's support for Trump was above Colorado average

Trump easily won all of the Super Tuesday states, except for Vermont.

He got higher support in Pueblo County than the statewide average: 76% of local voters supported the former president, while 63% of Coloradans who voted in the Republican primary supported him.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Michelle Gray, the chair of the Pueblo County Republican Party, of Trump’s victory in Pueblo. Gray said people are concerned about the cost of living and are frustrated with an effort in Colorado to remove Trump from the ballot, which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down on Monday.

“Look at what just happened in November and with the mayoral race,” Gray said, referencing recent conservative victories in local elections. “I think that Pueblo is actually a very conservative town and I think they're starting to vote their conservative values.”

Unofficial results as of 3 p.m. Wednesday showed that most Colorado counties supported Trump, but Haley’s support was strong in a few wealthy mountain counties, such as Pitkin and Routt, as well as Denver and Boulder counties.

‘Uncommitted’ Dem delegate gets support similar to the rest of the state

While Biden is the incumbent president on the Democratic ticket, several candidates filed to run against him in the primary.

A movement has also been growing in recent weeks to cast protest votes against the Biden administration’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war. In Michigan last week, the “uncommitted” vote tally exceeded organizers’ expectations.

Not all Super Tuesday states allowed voters to cast non-committal votes, but in Colorado, 8% of the Democratic ballots reported so far were not for any particular candidate.

Pueblo County voters who participated in the Democratic primary cast “uncommitted” ballots at a similar rate as the rest of Colorado.

Pueblo Democratic Party Chair Bri Buentello was unavailable to comment prior to the Chieftain’s deadline.

Overall turnout was low, but comparable to the rest of Colorado

According to the unofficial results, approximately 36% of eligible voters in Pueblo participated in the election — that’s on par with the statewide average, as of Wednesday afternoon.

The turnout rate for the presidential primary was also similar to the mayoral runoff election in January. However, that election was limited to voters living within city limits.

Pueblo County received more Republican than Democratic ballots, according to the most recent data shared by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. More unaffiliated voters opted to vote in the Republican primary than in the Democratic contest in Pueblo.

Colorado results mirrored other Super Tuesday states

Colorado has a semi-open primary. Democrats and Republicans just receive the primary ballot for the party they are affiliated with, but independent voters are mailed both major party ballots and can choose which primary they would like to participate in.

Trump got a majority of votes in nearly all of the 15 states with Republican presidential contests Tuesday evening. He saw less support in the states with open and semi-open primaries compared to the states with closed processes.

Colorado ranked fourth among the seven Super Tuesday states that included a non-committal option in the Democratic primary.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics at the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Four takeaways from Pueblo on Colorado's Super Tuesday primaries