In a surprising yet politically inconsequential upset on Super Tuesday, President Joe Biden lost the American Samoa Democratic caucuses to entrepreneur Jason Palmer.
On Tuesday night, the local Democratic Party chair confirmed to ABC News that Palmer won, though the ballot total was tiny, with less than 100 votes between both candidates.
With 99% of the expected vote reporting, Palmer leads with 56% of the vote, followed by Biden with 44%.
The results mark Biden’s first loss in the nominating race so far. That doesn’t meaningfully change his enormous lead overall, however, as he looks set for a general election rematch with former President Donald Trump.
So who is Jason Palmer?
According to his candidate website, Palmer boasts of previously serving in executive and leadership positions at multiple organizations, including Microsoft, Kaplan Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the impact investor firm New Markets Venture Partners.
Palmer has pointed to that experience in pitching himself as a “problem solver” in the presidential race, promising to create a new Department of Innovation and Technology.
Democratic Presidential Candidate, Jason Palmer.
Palmer for President
“I kept waiting for someone with a business background to join the race. When they didn’t, I decided to run based on my strong business background,” he said last year, according to MarketWatch.
The business news outlet also reported that Palmer supports “freedom of choice, speech and religion.”
“Palmer brings twenty-five years of experience in small business and multi-partisan fluency to his political endeavors,” his website states, adding, “As an education technology entrepreneur, executive, and investor, he offers rare levels of expertise.”
Speaking with Politico earlier this year, Palmer also cited Biden and Trump’s ages, at 81 and 77, compared to his own age, which Politico reported was 52.
“It’s super important that the next president of the United States be someone who really understands young people,” Palmer said.
“We need to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans,” he told Politico, adding that he believes the country’s laws should be updated more often than they are now.
A Biden campaign spokesperson brushed off the loss in American Samoa in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday night, saying, “There are unique politics on the island.”
American Samoa is a U.S. territory and not a state — so it does not cast electoral votes for president. However, it does hold primary caucuses.
In 2020, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the Democratic winner; in 2016, the last contested Republican caucuses, Trump won.
The Republican presidential caucus will be held on Friday.
ABC News’ Libby Cathey, Oren Oppenheim and Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.
