Biden’s win was overshadowed by a boycott campaign organized by Gaza cease-fire protesters.
LANSING, Mich.—As expected, incumbent President Joe Biden scored a decisive victory in Michigan’s Feb. 27 Democratic presidential primary.
His win, however, came amid a boycott campaign that asked people to vote “uncommitted” to express their discontent over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict. With half of the votes counted, “uncommitted” had garnered around 13 percent of the vote, much higher than the goal set by organizers.
The Associated Press called the race for President Biden immediately after the last polls closed at 9 p.m. ET.
The result comes soon after President Biden suggested that a humanitarian ceasefire could commence as soon as the end of the weekend.
“My hope is by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire,” the president said while eating ice cream at New York’s Van Leeuwen ice cream parlor with late night talk show host Seth Meyers.
“Uncommitted” activists in the state include Layla Elabed, a close relative of left-leaning “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
“When you get to your polling location, you need to request a Democratic ballot. Once you have your Democratic ballot, vote uncommitted,” Ms. Elabed said in an instructional video for the “Listen to Michigan” ceasefire protest vote campaign posted on X.
Ms. Tlaib also backed the campaign, saying she was “proud” to vote uncommitted on Tuesday.
The New York Times reports that Ms. Elabed “hasn’t ruled out voting for him [Biden] in November.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to Ms. Elabed for comment on the campaign.
Organizers of the boycott campaign cast the results as a victory.
“Our movement emerged victorious tonight and massively surpassed our expectations. Tens of thousands of Michigan Democrats, many of whom who voted for Biden in 2020, are uncommitted to his re-election due to the war in Gaza,” said Ms. Elabed in a statement.
