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President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, already the presumptive nominees for America’s two major political parties, have both won the 2024 Illinois presidential primaries, NBC News projects.
Biden and Trump both secured enough projected delegates to earn the “presumptive nominee” label on March 12, according to NBC News projections.
READ: Live election results from NBC Chicago
The race will mark the first time since 1912 that a former president and a sitting president will do battle in the November election. In that race, New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson defeated President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt to become the 28th president of the United States.
Biden has faced some criticism both within his party and within the electorate over his age, as he is the oldest president to ever serve in the United States. His approach to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has also put his administration under the critical eye of portions of the Democratic party, with some advocating for California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to replace him on the ballot.
Trump meanwhile is facing his own challenging road back to the Oval Office, as he remains under criminal indictment in various jurisdictions in a slew of different cases. Federal prosecutors have charged him with leading efforts to undermine the certification of results in the 2020 presidential election, while he also faces state charges in Georgia in relation to that effort.
He also faces charges for mishandling of classified documents and as part of a hush money case in New York, among other charges.
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Trump has blasted the prosecutions as being politically motivated, and has argued before the Supreme Court that he should be given broad immunity from prosecution in relation to the 2020 election.
Despite those hurdles, both Biden and Trump cruised to victory in their respective primary fights. Biden didn’t encounter significant resistance from Rep. Dean Phillips and activist Marianne Williamson, while Trump bested former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, forcing both leaders out of the race.
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As for what November will bring, polls have largely favored Trump nationally, but the race is expected to once again be tight, especially with control of the House and Senate up for grabs.
