Who is Jason Palmer? A previously unknown Democrat beats Biden in American Samoa

WASHINGTON —  President Biden appears to have swept every Democratic contest on Super Tuesday — except American Samoa’s.

He fell short there to a little-known candidate named Jason Palmer. Out of 91 ballots cast in the territory’s caucuses, Palmer won 51 and Biden won 40, according to local party officials.

“I found out that I had won because my phone started blowing up with friends and campaign staffers texting me,” Palmer said late Tuesday.

Palmer, 52, said he had never visited the territory before its caucuses.

“I have been campaigning remotely, doing Zoom town halls, talking to people, listening to them about their concerns and what matters to them,” he said.

The outcome will hardly derail Biden’s march toward his party’s nomination. Only six delegates were at stake in the U.S. territory, a tiny collection of islands in the South Pacific with fewer than 50,000 residents. Palmer and Biden each earned three delegates from the race.

On the day before the caucuses, Palmer posted on X that “Washington D.C. is long overdue for a president who will be an advocate for American Samoa.”

His account includes pictures of young people holding homemade campaign signs.

Palmer is a Baltimore resident who has worked for various businesses and nonprofits, often on issues involving technology and education. He said voters want “someone who is more of the 21st century than Joe Biden” to serve as president.

According to campaign finance records, Palmer has lent his campaign more than $500,000 of his own money.

“You can’t take the money with you when you die,” he said. “But you can change the world while you’re here.”

Residents of U.S. territories vote in primary contests but do not have representation in the electoral college for the general election.

American Samoa has been the site of quixotic victories before, including billionaire Michael R. Bloomberg’s only win in Democrats’ 2020 primary contests.