Trump, Biden win Michigan primaries but Democrats mount Gaza protest vote

U.S. President Joe Biden easily won the Democratic presidential primary in Michigan on Tuesday, but a protest vote by Democrats angry over his support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza exceeded organizers’ expectations.

Donald Trump won the state’s Republican presidential primary by a large margin, strengthening his grip on the party’s White House nomination as Nikki Haley, his last remaining rival, came in a distant second.

Although Biden and Republican former President Trump had been expected to easily win their separate party primaries, the vote count for both was being closely watched for signs of wavering support.

In Michigan, home to a large Arab American constituency, Democratic voters had been urged to mark their primary ballots as “uncommitted” on Tuesday in protest at Biden’s Gaza policy.

Early returns showed the number of “uncommitted” voters had approached 40,000 after 31% of Democratic ballots were counted, according to Edison Research. That figure far exceeded the 10,000 target for uncommitted voters that protest organizers had been hoping for.

Many in Michigan’s Arab American community who backed Biden in 2020 are angry, as are some progressive Democrats, over Biden’s support for Israel’s offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed.

“Our movement emerged victorious tonight and massively surpassed our expectations. Tens of thousands of Michigan Democrats, many of whom who voted for Biden in 2020, are uncommitted to his re-election due to the war in Gaza,” the Listen to Michigan campaign, which urged people to vote uncommitted, said in a statement.

Campaign organizers vowed to take what they called their antiwar agenda to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

Michigan pollster Bernie Porn said it remained to be seen how big of an issue the Middle East would be for Biden in November when the situation could look different.