Live results
Follow live election results in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.
NASHVILLE – Donald Trump was on the minds of voters in Tennessee’s Super Tuesday presidential primary, regardless of whether they supported or opposed the New York billionaire’s bid for the Republican nomination.
Some Democrats voted in the GOP primary solely to vote against Trump, while some Republicans sought to rally around a rival candidate in hopes of cutting in to Trump’s delegate haul in Tennessee.
But for Trump supporters like wedding planner Sue Davies-Rephan, from the Davidson County community of Madison, it was a chance to vote for a candidate she admires for bucking the party elites and calling for a crackdown on illegal immigration.
“I believe it’s a great idea to have a wall,” she said. “Right now immigrants are coming feely through the border, and it’s a fact that there’s no control over it.”
John K. O’Brien Jr. of Memphis said he voted for Trump because he is running to “change the country.”
“He has a backbone and he is not obligated to return kind of any favors that got him elected into office,” said O’Brien, who works in sales.
Julia Price, an attorney from Knoxville, said she voted in the Republican primary specifically to cast a ballot against Trump.
“I wanted to vote for somebody who wasn’t Donald Trump so that maybe he wouldn’t win Tennessee,” said Price, who cast her vote for Ohio Gov. John Kasich. “Normally, I’m a Democrat.”
Nashville Nurse Leilani Braund said she decided to vote for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz over Trump in the last moments before casting her ballot.
“I just felt he had more credibility and could run this country,” she said.
Nashville attorney Russell Harwell said he decided to support Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the GOP primary after former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush dropped out. But he said he also sees it as a way to oppose Trump.
“I was for Jeb Bush originally, so that didn’t go well for me,” he said. “So I’m more of an anti-Trump voter.”
Sixty-seven delegates are up for grabs in the Democratic primary, while 58 Republican delegates will be split up among any candidates who reach a threshold of 20 percent of the vote.
On the Democratic side, retired real estate agent Penny Teselle of Nashville said she voted for former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
“She’s the most qualified, no question about it,” she said. “”I can’t believe that anyone would elect Trump.”
Connie Withers, a Nashville homemaker, also cited Clinton’s experience in casting her vote for her.
“And I think women know how to straighten things out,” she said with a laugh.
Memphis artist Lisa Goodwin said she voted for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, even though she does not think he will win the Democratic nomination over Clinton.
“He’s brave enough to stand up and call for that sort of socialism,” Goodwin said. “When I think of other candidates, they are too afraid of having that word applied to them.”