MICHIGAN: 56 Percent Of Democrat Voters In Party Stronghold Of Dearborn Voted Against Biden

The major story that emerged from Michigan’s Democratic primary on Tuesday was the massive success of the “uncommitted” campaign, which was spearheaded by Muslim American voters who are dissatisfied with President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Support for the “uncommitted” campaign was most pronounced in Dearborn, a predominantly Muslim community that overwhelmingly backed Biden in the 2020 election. In total, more than 56 percent of Dearborn Democrats voted against Biden, a result that could prove significant come November.

With 99 percent of votes counted, nearly 20 percent of Michigan’s Democratic electorate voted against President Biden, who received 81.15 percent of the vote. While Biden’s share of the vote increased as the night went on, the uncommitted vote far exceeded expectations.

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — who played a key role in organizing the campaign — set a target of 10,000 votes. The actual result was stunning, with at least 101,436 Michigan Democrats voting “uncommitted,” good for 13.2 percent of the vote. An additional five percent went to Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and perennial candidate Marianne Williamson.

The massive number of uncommitted voters far surpassed the margin of victory needed by then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016, who defeated Hilary Clinton by a little more than 11,000 votes. Tuesday’s votes against Biden also make up more than half of the president’s election victory in 2020, who carried Michigan by a little more than 150,000 votes.

“I was proud today to walk in and pull a democratic ballot and vote uncommitted. We must protect our democracy. We must make sure that our government is about us, about the people. When 74% of Democrats in Michigan support a ceasefire, yet President Biden is not hearing us. This is the way we can use our democracy to say, listen, listen to Michigan, listen to the families right now that have been directly impacted,” Tlaib said in a video statement Tuesday.

The “uncommitted” vote received the most support in Dearborn, a Muslim majority area that overwhelmingly backed Biden in 2020. In total, uncommitted received 56 percent of the Democratic vote in Dearborn while Biden received just 40 percent.

Proponents of the campaign — including Rep. Tlaib — have accused Biden of supporting genocide in Palestine and have demanded that he negotiate a ceasefire or stop arms shipments to Israel. Tlaib has refused to commit to supporting to Biden in November unless there is a change in policy towards Palestine.