Joe Biden won the Democratic Party presidential primary in Michigan, as did Republican Donald Trump in Michigan. The result was expected on the Democratic side because the president faces no serious opposition, and on the Republican side because Trump was 30 points ahead of Nikki Haley in the polls.
As for Trump, he has already swept the first five states on the Republican primary calendar. Her victory in Michigan over her last primary rival, 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.
Trump’s campaign is trying to secure the 1,215 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination sometime in mid-March, though he will still face Haley on Super Tuesday on March 5, when 12 states hold primaries.
What Biden and Trump see beyond their win in Michigan
Both campaigns are watching Tuesday’s results for more than just whether they won as expected.
Democrats were watching the results of the “uncommitted” vote closely, as Michigan became a hotbed for disaffected members of the Biden coalition that pushed him to win the state (and nationally) in 2020.
By 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, when 15% of the vote had been counted, the number of “uncommitted” votes exceeded 22,000, more than double the 10,000-vote margin by which Trump won Michigan in 2016. , and that was a goal. Set up by the organizers of this year’s protest.
“Tonight our movement was victorious and far exceeded our expectations. Thousands of Michigan Democrats … are not committed to (President Biden’s) re-election because of the war in Gaza,” campaign manager Laila Alabed said in a statement. Listen Michigan.
A large number of voters choosing “uncommitted” means big problems for Biden with parts of the Democratic base in a state he can’t afford to lose in November.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to underperform among suburban voters and those with college degrees, and faces a faction within his own party that believes he broke the law in one or more of the criminal cases against him.
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