As expected, former President Donald Trump cruised to an easy victory in the Michigan primary Tuesday night leaving former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley taking a 42-point loss.
As for the Democratic side, President Biden easily won his uncontested primary, but a sizable number of “Uncommitted” Democratic voters left their mark by not supporting the sitting president.
GOP Primary Results
Check the New York Times for the latest numbers but as of publication, with 94% in, Trump is the heavy favorite:
Haley did her best in and around the suburban areas of the state such as Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, and areas around Detroit and Grand Rapids. Outside of small pockets here and there, Trump was the dominant force.
Democratic Primary Results
The Democratic results are a little more interesting given the high number of “Uncommitted” voters registering a protest vote against the President:
The vote for “Uncommitted” is a vote by Arab Americans registering their disgust with the Biden administration’s support for Israel, according to the Associated Press:
Michigan has the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the nation. More than 310,000 residents are of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry. Nearly half of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn’s roughly 110,000 residents claim Arab ancestry.
Both the White House and Biden campaign officials have made trips to Michigan in recent weeks to talk with community leaders about the Israel-Hamas war and how Biden has approached the conflict, but those leaders have been unpersuaded.
A robust grassroots effort began just a few weeks ago to encourage voters to select “uncommitted” as a way to register objections to the death toll caused by Israel’s offensive. Nearly 30,000 people have died in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials.
That push has been backed by officials such as Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman in Congress, and former Rep. Andy Levin.
“Uncommitted” votes were hovering around the 15% mark needed to qualify for delegates statewide. It was too soon to say whether the campaign would collect delegates locally.
There isn’t much Biden can say or do to persuade people who believe wrongly that Israel is an occupying force. They want an end to the war Hamas started and they want Israel to just shut up and accept the slaughter that happened on Oct. 7 of last year. The idea of a ceasefire on Israel’s part against bloodthirsty terrorists is akin to appeasement and a guarantee of future attacks.
Biden will have a problem with this group heading into November. Their numbers are large enough to make a difference if they decide to sit out the election.
The next big contest is on Super Tuesday when a dozen or so states will be voting.
Follow the primary schedule for more details.
