Biden wins Michigan primary, but faces opposition over Israel’s war on Gaza

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US president easily wins Michigan, but early results show strong support for a protest vote over his Gaza policy.

United States President Joe Biden has won the Democratic presidential primary in the state of Michigan, according to media projections, but early counts showed he faced significant opposition over his support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

In Michigan, which is 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.

With 16 percent of the votes counted, Biden had 79.6 percent support, with “uncommitted” getting 14.9 percent, according to The Associated Press news agency.

The latter amounts to 23,000 ballots so far, a number higher than the goal of 10,000 set by organisers of the protest vote.

Michigan routinely offers an “uncommitted” option as a way of questioning whether a named candidate has the support of the party’s base.

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

With 8 percent of the estimated Republican vote counted, Trump had 64 percent support to Haley’s 32 percent, according to Edison Research.

Michigan is expected to play a decisive role in the head-to-head November 5 US presidential election, a likely rematch between Biden and Trump.

It is a battleground state that could swing toward either party.

Biden beat Trump in Michigan by just 2.8 percentage points in the 2020 election.

But many in Michigan’s Arab American community who backed Biden in 2020 are now outraged, along with some progressive Democrats, over Biden’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians.

Both the White House and Biden campaign officials have made trips to Michigan in recent weeks to talk with community leaders about Israel’s war on Gaza, and how the US president has approached the conflict, but those leaders, along with organizers of the “uncommitted” effort, have been undeterred.

That push, led by the group Listen to Michigan began in earnest just a few weeks ago, has been backed by officials such as Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman in Congress, and former Representative Andy Levin.

Listen to Michigan said it was pleased with the early results.

“Our movement emerged victorious tonight and massively surpassed our expectations,” Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan, was quoted as saying by the Washington Post. “Tens of thousands of Michigan Democrats … are uncommitted to [ Biden’s] re-election due to the war in Gaza.”