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‘Groundbreaking’: Michigan’s uncommitted vote for Gaza should ‘worry’ Biden

Michigan movement ‘surpasses expectations’ with more than 100,000 votes cast in protest of unequivocal US support for Israel.

Activist Natalia Latif tapes a 'Vote Uncommitted' sign on the speaker's podium during a primary election night gathering in Dearborn, Michigan, on February 27 [Rebecca Cook/Reuters]

By Ali Harb and Joseph Stepansky

Published On 28 Feb 202428 Feb 2024

In the Michigan city known as the capital of Arab America, United States President Joe Biden came second in the Democratic primaries, in a vote hailed as “groundbreaking”.

Most Democratic voters in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn chose “uncommitted” over the incumbent, as part of an organised effort to denounce his “unwavering” support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

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And it wasn’t just Dearborn. Initial results, released early on Wednesday, reveal that more than 101,000 people across the state joined the protest campaign at the ballot box.

Advocates said the numbers serve as an enormous rebuke to Washington’s backing of Israel, not to mention a warning sign for Democrats heading into the general election in November.

“It’s huge,” Palestinian-American human rights lawyer Huwaida Arraf said of the “uncommitted” tally.

But Arraf, who is based in the Detroit area, said Tuesday’s 101,000 votes do not fully convey the growing frustration at Biden’s policies.

She pointed out that some voters opted to cast their ballots for other candidates also to display displeasure with the incumbent president. Both Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips, who challenged Biden for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, have previously called for a ceasefire.

Phillips won 20,000 votes while Williamson, who dropped out of the race ahead of Tuesday’s voting, received more than 22,000. In the aftermath of the state primary, Williamson has announced she would relaunch her campaign.

Arraf added that many people chose not to participate in the process altogether. She explained that the “uncommitted” campaign was working with limited resources and started only a few weeks before the election.

“Tuesday’s showing of no confidence in Biden, anger with Biden and people’s willingness to use their vote to express that extreme discontent should have the Biden team and all Democrats very, very worried,” she told Al Jazeera.

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