Biden Wins Michigan Primary Despite Protest Votes, Trump Easily Beats Haley Yet Again | CBC News

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U.S. President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump won the Michigan primaries on Tuesday, further solidifying the all-but-certain rematch between the two men.

Michigan is the last primary race before crucial Super Tuesday electionsThe Associated Press

· Posted: Feb 27, 2024 10:07 PM EST | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Voters fill out their ballot for the Michigan primary election in Dearborn, Mich., on Tuesday — the last major primary before Super Tuesday and a critical swing state in November’s general election. (Paul Sancya/The Associated Press)U.S. President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump won the Michigan primaries on Tuesday, further solidifying the all-but-certain rematch between the two men.

Biden defeated Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, his one significant opponent left in the Democratic primary.

But Democrats were also closely watching the results of the “uncommitted” vote, as Michigan has become the epicentre for dissatisfied members of Biden’s coalition that propelled him to victory in the state — and nationally — in 2020.

The number of “uncommitted” votes has already surpassed the 10,000-vote margin by which Trump won Michigan in 2016, surpassing a goal set by organizers of this year’s protest effort.

As for Trump, he has now swept the first five states on the Republican primary calendar.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump gestures during a campaign event in Waterford Township, Mich. on Feb. 17. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)His victory in Michigan over his last major primary challenger, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, comes after the former president defeated her by 20 percentage points in her home state of South Carolina on Saturday.

The Trump campaign is looking to lock up the 1,215 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination sometime in mid-March.

Both campaigns are watching Tuesday’s results for more than just whether they won as expected.

For Biden, a large number of voters choosing “uncommitted” could mean he’s in significant trouble with parts of the Democratic base in a state he can hardly afford to lose in November.

Trump, meanwhile, has underperformed with suburban voters and people with a college degree, and faces a faction within his own party that believes he broke the law in one or more of the criminal cases against him.

Biden has already sailed to wins in South Carolina, Nevada and New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire victory came via a write-in campaign as Biden did not formally appear on the ballot after the state broke the national party rules by going ahead of South Carolina, which had been designated to go first among the Democratic nominating contests.

WATCH | Why Democrats are still backing Biden:

Biden or bust: Why Democrats are sticking with an unpopular incumbentDespite sinking popularity, Joe Biden appears destined to lead the Democratic Party in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. CBC’s Alex Panetta breaks down why the party is sticking with Biden as its candidate and what he’d be up against in another race against Donald Trump.

Uncommitted and undeterred Both the White House and Biden campaign officials have made trips to Michigan in recent weeks to talk with community leaders about the Israel-Hamas war and how Biden has approached the conflict, but those leaders, along with organizers of the “uncommitted” effort, have been undeterred.

The robust grassroots effort, which has been encouraging voters to select “uncommitted” as a way to register objections to his handling of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, has been Biden’s most significant political challenge in the early contests.

That push, which began in earnest just a few weeks ago, has been backed by officials such as Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman in Congress, and former representative Andy Levin.

Our Revolution, the organizing group once tied to Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had also urged progressive voters to choose “uncommitted” Tuesday, saying it would send a message to Biden to “change course NOW on Gaza or else risk losing Michigan to Trump in November.”

Eric Suter-Bull holds a ‘Vote uncommitted’ sign outside a voting location in Dearborn, on Tuesday, as some voters cast protest votes against President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. (Paul Sancya/The Associated Press)Resounding support for TrumpTrump’s dominance of the early states is unparalleled since 1976, when Iowa and New Hampshire began their tradition of holding the first nominating contests.

He has won resounding support from most pockets of the Republican voting base, including evangelical voters, conservatives and those who live in rural areas.

But Trump has struggled with college-educated voters, losing that bloc in South Carolina to Haley on Saturday night.

Even senior figures in the Republican Party who have been skeptical of Trump are increasingly falling in line.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican who has been critical of the party’s standard-bearer, endorsed Trump for president on Sunday.

Still, Haley has vowed to continue her campaign through at least Super Tuesday on March 5, pointing to a not-insignificant swath of Republican primary voters who have continued to support her despite Trump’s tightening grip on the party.

She also outraised Trump’s primary campaign committee by almost $3 million US in January.

That indicates that some donors continue to look at Haley, despite her longshot prospects, as an alternative to Trump should his legal problems imperil his chances of becoming the nominee.

WATCH | Reasons Haley might stay in the race:

Why Nikki Haley won’t quit | About ThatAfter losing the Republican primary in her home state of South Carolina, Nikki Haley has promised not to quit, vowing to keep going until at least Super Tuesday in early March. Andrew Chang breaks down five reasons why she might be staying in the race.

Two of Trump’s political committees raised just $13.8 million US in January, according to campaign finance reports released last week, while collectively spending more than they took in.

Much of the money spent from Trump’s political committees is the millions of dollars in legal fees to cover his court cases. With nominal intraparty challengers, Biden has been able to focus on beefing up his cash reserves.

The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced last week that it had raised $42 million US in contributions during January from 422,000 donors.

The president ended the month with $130 million US in cash on hand, which campaign officials said is the highest total ever raised by any Democratic candidate at this point in the presidential cycle.

The Republican Party is also aligning behind Trump as he continued to be besieged with legal problems that will pull him from the campaign trail as the November election nears.

He is facing 91 criminal changes across four separate cases, ranging from his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost, to retaining classified documents after his presidency to allegedly arranging secret payoffs to an adult film actor.

His first criminal trial, in the case involving hush money payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels, is scheduled to begin on March 25 in New York.

WATCH | Key arguments on Trump’s disqualification:

U.S. Supreme Court grills lawyers in Trump disqualification case | About ThatThe U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about whether former president Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to hold office again after the Colorado Supreme Court voted to remove him from that state’s ballot. Andrew Chang breaks down key arguments from the proceedings.

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