Jason Palmer, a former Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation employee and education technology venture capitalist, won the American Samoa Democratic caucus on Tuesday, NBC News projects.
Palmer won 51 votes to President Joe Biden’s 40 despite never having visited the area.
“You can never expect to beat the incumbent, but I love the people of American Samoa and they’ve been wonderful to me this month,” Palmer told NBC News after his projected victory.
Palmer, who was largely unknown before Tuesday, said he has run four virtual campaigns in American Samoa in recent days and won several hundred votes. New Hampshireof and of Nevada Democratic primaries this year.
Palmer was also on the ballot Tuesday in Colorado and Vermont, and he said he is on the ballot in 16 states and territories this cycle.
He is looking forward to Arizona, where he will soon announce his plan to solve the “immigration crisis.”
Palmer added that his goal is to get as many delegates as possible so he can influence the convention to make education a top priority in this election.
Pressed on whether he would support Biden if he were the final candidate, Palmer said if he doesn’t get the nomination, “I will support the Democratic presidential candidate. But I hope Joe Biden will step aside for the next generation of leaders.”
Palmer said other senior leaders in the Democratic Party who are closer to his age (52) are also ready to step up and lead, and they have a better chance of defeating Donald Trump in the fall.
He said these leaders could be himself or Democratic Governments. Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Colorado’s Jared Polis or California’s Gavin Newsom.
Although his victory in the US territory was a surprise, the primaries did not always predict the final candidate.
In 2020, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg won the area’s Democratic caucus, picking up four delegates to the Democratic National Convention, while Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii came in second with two delegates to the convention.
In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the American Samoa Democratic caucus and also won the Democratic nomination. Although Clinton did not win the Democratic nomination, she won the caucus in 2008.
American Samoa’s Democratic caucuses are generally low. In the 2020 contest, which featured 10 candidates, 91 people voted Tuesday, with more than 300 people casting ballots. In 2016, more than 200 people voted in the caucus of the Democratic Party.
according to Facebook page A member of the American Samoa Democratic Party, the caucus is held at the Department of Youth and Women Affairs in Tafuna, where voters cast their ballots as in a traditional primary or general election.
However, one of the only ways voters can participate in presidential elections in American Samoa is through party-nominated contests.
Only eligible voters in all 50 states are allowed to vote in November’s general election, excluding voters in American Samoa and other US territories.
When asked why he decided to run for president in December, Palmer told Inside High Education The biggest reason for this was “all the news about young people feeling powerless and helpless, the biggest problems of our time not being solved.”
He added: “When education or workforce readiness comes up in our national debate, it’s not about 21st century skills, apprenticeships, credentials or quality work, but about critical race theory and transgender bathrooms. This is not acceptable. I will not allow the United States of America to sink into the abyss of ignorance – not in my eyes.
Although Palmer won several delegates to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, it is unlikely that he has any solid path to the presidential nomination.
According to Fif Eelection commission reportsPalmer raised $570,000 for his campaign, but more than $530,000 of that came from the candidate’s personal loans.
A Biden campaign aide told NBC News on Tuesday that he did not know who Palmer was.
Biden It leads the race with 994 representatives. No other candidate on the Democratic side picked up any delegates heading into Super Tuesday, though Michigan did pick up two “non-loyal” delegates after 13% of Democratic primary voters voted “non-loyal” instead of electing a candidate in protest of Biden’s approach. Israel’s war against Hamas.