By John Schwing

WESTPORT — And the winners are … the winners.

The candidates who easily won the most votes cast by Westporters in Tuesday’s presidential preference primaries — Joe Biden for Democrats and Republican Donald Trump — also finished first in statewide balloting.

The local and state primary results, however, only underscored the overall outcome that’s been known for weeks: Biden and Trump are the presumptive nominees for this year’s Nov. 5 general election, having already clinched more than enough support to win their respective political parties’ presidential nominations.

Since only Biden and Trump were still officially in the running as of Tuesday — other candidates listed on the ballot for both parties have dropped out — voter turnout in Westport and across the state was very light.

In Westport, unofficial vote totals reported after the polls closed Tuesday night were:

Democratic primary: President Joe Biden, 710 votes; Uncommitted, 29 votes; author Marianne Williamson, 7, and U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, 4.

Republican primary: former President Donald Trump, 184; former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, 72; Uncommitted, 23, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 4.

The local results were mirrored across Connecticut.

Biden won about 85 percent of the votes in the Democratic primary statewide, while Trump tallied about 78 percent, according to early unofficial totals.

Second place also was the same as the local outcome, respectively, with Uncommitted getting 11.4 percent in the Democrats’ contest, and Haley garnering about 14 percent in the GOP race.

Although the outcome at the polls provided no surprises, the voting process itself was historic. The four days of early voting last week leading up to the actual primary day on Tuesday, marked the inaugural test of in-person early voting in Connecticut under an amendment to the state Constitution approved by voters in 2022.

And Westporters’ turnout on the early voting days — third highest in the state — was judged worthy of a trophy in the estimation of the Secretary of the State’s Office, which oversees all state elections.

A total of 460 registered Democrats and Republicans cast ballots over the course of the four early-voting days last week — the breakdown was 361 Democrats and 99 Republicans. Only Hamden, with 1,197 early ballots cast, and Wallingford, with 506, surpassed the number of Westport early voters.

Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas stopped by Town Hall on Tuesday to congratulate Democratic Registrar Deborah Greenberg and Republican Registrar Maria Louise Signore for their efforts — and presented them with a tiny trophy.

Nearly 18,000 voters took advantage of in-person early voting across the state, according to the unofficial figures.

“Early voting, a historic first for Connecticut,” said Thomas. “Pretty low turnout in general, but I thought it was a resounding success. We had over 17,000 people come and vote early across the state.”

With nothing at stake, why did people vote?

“This isn’t a competitive primary, so a lot of people have been voting for different reasons,” Thomas said. “Some people think it’s important to vote in every election, as I do. Some wanted to be a part of history. Some towns reported having a line on the first day of early voting.”

And for others, it was a protest vote — a way to oppose the major party candidates by casting a ballot for other candidates who either dropped out or are polling low, or by voting for an “uncommitted” slate.

Uncommitted was an option in both the Democratic and Republican primaries in Connecticut, but activists have largely used it as a vehicle in states across the country to send a signal about their frustration surrounding Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war.

With additional reporting by the CTMirror.