Over 100K "uncommitted" votes in Michigan primary challenge Biden's stance on Gaza conflict
DEARBORN, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – More than 100,000 Michiganders voted "uncommitted" during Tuesday's Democratic primary in protest of President Joe Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war. It's enough votes that there will be two delegates who will be free to vote for whomever they choose at the Democratic National Convention this summer.
"It showcases that in this country, we are tired of taking our tax dollars and funding it towards a war that is killing innocent people and that we're asking our leadership in this country to listen to what we're saying and create a better society in which we're valuing peace and human life," Lexis Zeidan with Listen to Michigan told CBS News Detroit.
RECAP: Donald Trump wins Michigan presidential primary, Kristina Karamo removed as state party chair
The group had set a target of 10,000 uncommitted votes but blew past that; in Dearborn, the uncommitted vote won 57%, beating the 40% votes for Biden.
"In the beginning, folks thought this was an Arab issue or Muslim issue, but we clearly demonstrated that this is an American issue," Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said. "We built a multi-faith, multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-racial coalition, and their voices were heard yesterday at the primary ballot box."
Leaders of the grassroots campaign say organizers from other states have reached out looking to launch similar campaigns.
"For us, Georgia is going to be a big battleground that we're going to focus on, and we're going to win big. Between Georgia and Michigan, I believe it is going to be just empirically impossible for Joe Biden to be president, and our campaign will succeed in making him a one-term president, uncoupling his loss with the genocide in Gaza," Khalid Turaani, co-chair of the Abandon Biden campaign said.
"Listen to Michigan" continues to call for a permanent ceasefire.
"President Biden has the opportunity to unite the people across this country who firmly believe in calling and demanding for a permanent and lasting ceasefire, while humanitarian aid to again resume for the people of Gaza, and who want a lasting just Palestinian state for the Palestinian people. And so I think that is a choice that he has before him, or he stands to suffer the unraveling of American democracy in November," Hammoud told CBS News Detroit.
