Joe Biden wins Democratic presidential Michigan Primary amid ‘uncommitted’ vote push

Joe Biden wins Michigan Primary amid ‘uncommitted’ vote push

President Joe Biden won the Michigan Democratic primary, the Associated Press reported, as he faced protest votes over his handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Detractors had urged Democrats to either sit out the vote or to cast “uncommitted” ballots over Biden’s policies toward Israel. Michigan is home to a large Arab-American population where many had criticized Biden for failing to stop the fighting following Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the US.

On the Republican side, former President Donald Trump dominated, easily defeating his last remaining major challenger, Nikki Haley, according to the AP and other news organizations.

Shortly after the last polls in the state closed at 9 p.m., Trump had 65.8 percent to Haley’s 30% with 16% of the vote counted. Biden had 79%, with 15.7% going to uncommitted, with 14% of votes counted.

Trump has swept the primary and caucus contests so far and on Saturday delivered a humiliating loss to Haley in her own home state of South Carolina, solidifying his path to the nomination.

While the president was expected to handily win the primary, those protest votes show the challenges his reelection campaign faces with some key supporters amid turmoil in the Middle East. Biden narrowly won Michigan in 2020 and the state is again considered a must-win this November.

He did not face a serious challenger in the contest, with US Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota and self-help author Marianne Williamson, who dropped out of the race earlier this month, the only other names on the Democratic ballot.

Michigan is home to one of the nation’s largest Arab- and Muslim- American populations, leaving some Democrats worried that Biden’s stance has alienated a key group in a state he only won by a narrow margin in 2020 over Republican Donald Trump.

The president has faced sharp criticism from Arab- and Muslim- Americans, as well as young voters and progressives, over his response to Israel’s military campaign to root out Hamas in the Gaza Strip, after the group’s deadly Oct. 7 assault.