Joe Biden comfortably won the Democratic primary in Michigan on Tuesday, despite significant defections from a group of voters in his party angry over his support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
Progressive activists and Arab-American leaders had urged Michigan Democrats to vote “without commitment” rather than support Biden in the primaries, in a warning sign for his expected re-election against Donald Trump in a crucial state.
Dissent within his own party in Michigan has emerged as a major political challenge for Biden’s campaign in recent weeks, raising fears among some Democrats that the president will struggle to unite the center-left coalition around his candidacy for November.
The backlash within Biden’s party over Gaza has also pushed foreign policy to the center of the race for the White House, along with other crucial issues such as immigration, the economy, the future of American democracy and the character of candidates.
As of 10:25 pm Eastern time, with 25% of Democratic votes counted across Michigan, Biden was winning with 79.7%, while 14.6% had chosen “uncommitted.” Longtime candidates Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson each had less than 3%.
Separately in Michigan, Trump won another comfortable victory in the race for the Republican presidential nomination against Nikki Haley, his former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, moving one step closer to his party’s support.
As of 10.25pm, Trump had won 67% of the Republican vote, while Haley had won 28.1%, showing that he too faces defections within his party.
The protest from the Democratic side is a reaction to Biden’s continued support for Israel during the conflict in Gaza, where nearly 30,000 people have died, according to Palestinian officials, since Israel declared war on Hamas in response to the militant group’s October 7 attack .
“President Biden has funded bombs dropping on people’s family members right here in Michigan,” said Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan, a group aiming to get at least 15% of voters to vote.” not engaged”. ballot papers. “Thousands of Michigan Democrats who voted for Biden in 2020 now feel completely betrayed.”
Listen, Michigan has called for a ceasefire in the enclave and for the Biden administration to stop providing funding to Israel.
Michigan is a battleground state that has been decided by narrow margins in recent election cycles. Biden defeated Donald Trump in 2020 by just 150,000 votes, while Trump defeated Hillary Clinton four years earlier by fewer than 11,000 votes.
According to the latest census data, just over half of the people living in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, the state’s largest city, are Arab-American. About 140,000 Arab Americans voted in Michigan in the 2020 presidential election.
Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American member of Congress whose district includes much of Dearborn, was among those who encouraged Democrats to file a protest vote. Elabed, the campaign manager for Listen to Michigan, is Tlaib’s sister.
“I was proud today to come in and pick up a Democratic ballot and vote with no strings attached,” Tlaib said in a video posted Tuesday on social media. “When 74% of Democrats in Michigan support a ceasefire, yet President Biden won’t listen to us, this is how we can use our democracy to say, listen.”
Biden, who spent decades in the US Senate, has long been a staunch supporter of Israel.
But in recent weeks he has been increasingly critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while senior White House officials and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have also deplored the death toll in Gaza.
Biden told reporters Monday that he hopes a temporary ceasefire could begin in the enclave as early as next week.
But Democratic voters, especially younger and more progressive ones, have become increasingly disillusioned with the Biden administration’s position on the conflict. Their disapproval has weighed on the president’s poll numbers as he prepares for the November election.
Recent opinion polls have put Trump ahead of Biden in a hypothetical matchup in Michigan. An Emerson poll released last week showed him leading by a four-point margin in the state.
Many of Biden’s public events have been disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters in recent weeks, and the weekend death of an American airman who set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington made headlines across the country.
Biden’s campaign spent relatively little time in Michigan compared to other early primary states, namely South Carolina. He last visited Michigan on February 1, where he met with some auto workers.
Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan’s Democratic governor re-elected in 2022, is co-chair of Biden’s re-election campaign and has been among his staunchest defenders in the state.
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“I understand the pain that people are feeling,” Whitmer told CNN this week, referring to the conflict in Gaza. But he added: “Any vote not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term. . . this was a man promoting a Muslim ban. I think this is a moment where the stakes are very high.”
Trump’s campaign in Michigan focused on workers, especially in the auto industry, which is a dominant force in the state’s economy. Biden has also sought support from organized labor in Michigan, and last month the United Auto Workers union endorsed his reelection bid.