Feb 27, 2024,09:27pm EST
Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Michigan went to President Joe Biden, but more than 20,000 voters marked their ballots as “uncommitted” in response to calls from activists for an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict for citizens to vote in protest. This is a notable turnout in a state that is anticipated to be very important in the general election.
Important Information
As of 9:20 p.m. ET, Biden had 79% of the vote, while the percentage of undecided voters was 15.6%. Approximately 14% of the votes cast in the entire state had been counted. The Associated Press declared Biden the winner at that time.
Approximately 20,600 Democratic voters in Michigan have chosen to remain undecided thus far, surpassing the 10,000 targets established by the Listen to Michigan campaign. It is anticipated that this figure will rise when more ballots are tallied, particularly in Wayne County, which has a large population.
Primary voters were exhorted to vote “uncommitted” in opposition to Biden’s continued support for Israel, which launched an invasion of the Gaza Strip after Hamas assaulted southern Israel in October by a coalition of progressive activists, college demonstrators, and Arab American community leaders.
The group’s leader, Layla Elabed, who is also the sister of Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only American of Palestinian descent serving in Congress, contends in a memo obtained by Politico that if these voters decide to stay at home, they could swing the election in favor of Biden in November if polls continue to show him trailing Trump both nationally and in the pivotal swing state.
Slightly over ten thousand votes separated Biden and Trump in 2020, yet a sizable portion of Arab Americans reside in Michigan, including the largest Arab American community in the United States, located in Dearborn.
Though he has backed military aid to Israel and refrained from calling for an immediate and permanent cease-fire, Biden has grown more vocal in his calls for Israel to adopt a more measured approach in Gaza as the death toll rises. On Monday, he expressed his “hope that by next Monday we will have a cease-fire” after weeks of negotiations.
Longshots Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and Marianne Williamson were trailing at about 2.7% apiece.
Astonishing truth
According to Politico, nearly 20,000 Democratic voters in Michigan marked “uncommitted” on their ballots for the 2016 and 2020 primaries.
THE NEXT PRIMARY IS WHEN?
Super Tuesday, March 5, is set aside for the Democratic primary competitions
THINGS TO BE Aware Of
Biden stated that efforts are being made by negotiators on both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict to solidify a cease-fire deal for the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan on March 10. In exchange for increased humanitarian aid being sent to Gaza, the agreement would also see the release of hundreds of Palestinian inmates detained in Israel and roughly 40 hostages held by Hamas.
ESSENTIAL PREFACE
Despite having low support ratings due to issues with his age, the economy, how he handled the Israel-Hamas conflict, and border security, Biden is the de facto choice for the party. A December New York Times/Siena poll found that 57% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war and that more people (46%) trust Trump to handle the crisis than do Biden (38%). According to an Associated Press poll conducted in January, about half of American adults—including 63% of Democrats and 33% of Republicans—believed that Israel’s reaction to Hamas has gone too far. Following New Hampshire’s Democratic primary on January 23 and South Carolina and Nevada’s earlier this month, Michigan is the fourth state to have a primary for Democrats.
THINGS TO BE AWAIT
In the GOP Michigan primary, however, it is generally anticipated that Trump would triumph over former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. He is expected to secure enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination by the end of the next month, paving the way for a momentous rematch with Joe Biden.