- Arab American activists pushed the ‘uncommitted’ vote over war in Gaza
- The effort garnered 13 per cent of the vote statewide
- It hit 17 per cent in two counties
Joe Biden‘s campaign denied being ‘panicked’ Tuesday after the president suffered an embarrassing loss in the city of Dearborn, Michigan and saw 100,000 people choose ‘uncommitted’ over him in a state he needs to win in November.
It came after a coalition of anti-war activists and Arab American leaders furious over the war in Gaza urged voters to choose ‘uncommitted’ over the sitting president.
Uncommitted ended up drawing 101,000 with 95 per cent of the vote in. It got 17 per cent of the vote In Wayne County, which includes Detroit, and in Washtenaw County, which includes Ann Arbor.
There were precincts in East Dearborn where Biden got fewer than 20 votes. In one precinct, the president got 9 votes – compared to 140 for ‘uncommitted.’
Abbas Alawieh, spokesperson for Listen to Michigan, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan celebrated ‘uncommitted’ getting more than 100,000 votes on the ballot amid their campaing against Biden’s policies in the war in Gaza
Biden’s campaign kept an even keel and released a statement on the results that did not mention ‘uncommitted,’ as he continues to roll toward the nomination with minimal primary opposition from candidates.
‘Any reporting that we’re panicked or deeply concerned would be wrong,’ a campaign official told CNN.
That came as Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) told the network: ‘I am worried — I’ve talked to them.’
Biden won the primary and beat ‘uncommitted’ by six to one – but lost the city of Dearborn
President Biden’s campaign has denied panicking
Activist Abbas Alawieh leads the dance Dabke during an uncommitted vote election night gathering as Democrats and Republicans hold their Michigan primary presidential election in Dearborn
But Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said, ‘Oh, I’m not concerned. It’s not unusual to have uncommitted. We’ve had that in all elections.’
The campaign organized a press call just as most of the state’s polls, and before the extent of the ‘uncommitted’ campaign was known, to reassure the media.
Members of the Michigan state Democratic party ‘know how to beat Donald Trump. We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again,’ state chair Chair Lavora Barnes said.
At the White House, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried to reassure reporters Tuesday while showing sympathy to the protest effort, amid reports of a split within the White House over policy on Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza.
‘We know it’s been a difficult time,’ said Jean-Pierre. ‘The president cares about that. He cares about what that community is feeling, very deeply. And we believe it’s important that they feel that they are able to express themselves and voice their feelings and their concerns.’
As the final results ticked in late Tuesday and Wednesday, Biden ended up losing to ‘uncommitted’ in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, and Hamtramck – all centers of the protest movement.
One yardstick was the 2012 reelection of Barack Obama, where uncommitted drew 11 per cent of the vote, which indicates while there was a surge and a warning that Biden must contend with, there have been past signals of dissatisfaction that didn’t lead to later defeat.
It was a high turnout primary, uncommitted drew about 20,000 votes.