Biden wins Democratic primary in Michigan, but receives huge protest vote for his policy towards Gaza USA Elections

United States President Joe Biden has won the Democratic primary in Michigan and Donald Trump has won the Republican primary. So far, one can guess. But as the count progresses, it becomes clear that the occupant of the White House has received a strong vote of conviction for his pro-Israel policy in the war in Gaza. A significant percentage of Democratic ballots marked the “undeclared” box, which is the equivalent of a blank vote. The campaign launched by the Arab American community – very large in this state – and progressive groups aims to warn Biden that short of a permanent ceasefire it could cost him the White House to take delegates to the Democratic convention in Chicago this August. May have to pay.

The first hours of vote counting indicated that the “undeclared” option had more support than the nearly 11,000-vote margin with which Trump won over Hillary Clinton in Michigan in 2016, which campaign organizers had set. They also surpassed the 20,000 “undeclared” turnout of the last three Democratic presidential primaries in the state. With 24% counted, the total number of rebel votes was 33,000 ballots, or 14.6%. Biden won Michigan in 2020 by 150,000 votes.

“We have put human life before sports. We put human life before the president,” congratulated Abdullah Mahmoud, mayor of the city of Dearborn, one of the Democratic politicians who have supported the blank vote campaign as the results are counted. Dearborn, a city on the outskirts of Detroit where 55% of the population is of North African or Middle Eastern descent, has been the birthplace of the campaign, which seeks to demonstrate to Biden that winning Michigan is a key to continuing his electoral path. Is the key. In the White House, they need the votes to demand a ceasefire. In Dearborn, the percentage of “undeclared” reached 73%.

After being open for twelve hours, polling stations closed at 8:00 pm (2:00 am Spanish Peninsular time on Wednesday). In Dearborn, what had been a mere throng of people early in the morning was gaining momentum by the afternoon. More than a million people had already voted in the state of one million inhabitants; In Dearborn, election officials said turnout was higher than expected. “We are running out of forms to register voters,” he signaled in Precinct No. 2, when there was still an hour and a half left for voting to end.

“We want to show that we are an electoral group that can be trusted,” Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said at a polling station during the day. “It is our parents, our brothers, our families and friends who are being bombarded…. “We want to use this opportunity to send a message: that unless the President improves his policy, he risks ruining not only his presidency, but ultimately American democracy with the election of Donald Trump ,” to continue. “This community feels betrayed. “We elected a president to lead with humanity, with decency, with empathy, and we’ve got the opposite.”

The US President, who took a decisive stance on the Israeli side at the beginning of the war in Gaza, has gradually changed his position, although he has maintained his resistance to a permanent ceasefire and continues to send weapons to Israel. In recent weeks he has declared that the Israeli government has “gone too far” in its war in the Strip, where nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, and has sanctioned Jewish settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank and Rafah. Have warned against attack. Last Gazan city to be attacked. This Monday he expressed hope to close the temporary ceasefire within a week, which could be the first step towards a permanent ceasefire.

Dearborn voters gave a signal that they would not change their position. “It’s too little, too late,” said Khalid Turani of the Michigan Task Force on Palestine and one of the organizers of the “Abandon Biden” movement, which promotes the US president’s defeat in next November’s elections. Mayor Hammoud was also skeptical: “It’s strange that it’s time to talk about a ceasefire when you’re eating ice cream. And meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told his cabinet to discuss the issue of the holiest month for Muslims. Plans have been presented to attack Rafah during Ramadan.

Michigan is key to the aspirations of both Democrats and Republicans. Trump won this state by just over 10,000 votes in 2016. Biden took it away from them by 150,000 ballots in 2020. The state has a population of 300,000 residents of Arab origin, who four years ago leaned heavily (64%) in favor of the current president.

“Four years ago I voted for Biden. This time I’m going to vote for Trump,” said Imad Saeed, an unemployed 48-year-old man leaving his polling station in Dearborn. He claimed that his inspiration was not just the events in Gaza. “Crime is up, a lot of money is being sent to Ukraine and there’s less of it here…America first,” he said, echoing Trump’s famous slogan.

A percentage of more than 10% of the total “undeclared” votes would be a significant warning shot for Biden in a state that, in addition to supporting him in 2020, has a Democratic majority in its local parliament and state governorship. The president has received the support of the influential automobile workers union UAW, which has major political importance in the state, which accounts for 20% of the entire country’s vehicle production.

LaShawn English, the union’s regional director, told Reuters, “We will continue to highlight the differences between Biden and Trump and once they become clearer, we believe voters who turned away from Biden Yes, they will be back.”

Biden’s campaign co-chair, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, has warned that a punitive vote against the president now could translate into a Trump victory in November. He also indicated in statements to the MSNBC television network that “it will be important for the Administration to continue to engage with leaders and individuals from the Palestinian, Muslim, Arab American, as well as the Jewish communities.”

On the Republican side, how many votes Haley gets will be an indication of the extent to which a portion of this electorate remains skeptical about a second term for Trump, whom polls show has a 57 percentage point advantage over his rival. Had given. The data will be relative, however: Only 30% of Michigan’s delegates will now be awarded at the Republican convention in Milwaukee. The remaining 70 will have to wait till Saturday, when the party will hold its state conference. Or, rather, conference: internal divisions have created two factions that have called separate meetings in two different cities.

Before the recount began, Haley announced to the CNN television network that she would continue the election fight: “We’ve only seen turnout in a handful of states. “We’re going to fight state by state.”

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