The 2024 Michigan Democratic presidential primary was held on February 27, 2024, as part of the Democratic Party primaries for the 2024 presidential election. 117 delegates to the Democratic National Convention were allocated to presidential candidates, with 21 additional unpledged delegates. The open primary contest took place concurrently with its Republican counterpart.
Despite Biden winning in a landslide, he faced an organised challenge for "uncommitted" delegates in an otherwise generally uncontested primary season, losing to it two of the 117 delegates. It was the first "campaign" to win delegates other than Biden's that primary season, and won over 100,000 votes. The campaign's performance was attributed to Arab, Muslim, young and progressive voters protesting Biden over his handling of the Gaza war. The uncommitted vote in Michigan inspired similar protest votes in other states, eventually becoming a national movement throughout the presidential election.
The Michigan Secretary of State identified the following candidates (listed alphabetically) as Democratic Party presidential candidates in 2024:
An Uncommitted option was also included on the ballot. Williamson suspended her campaign on February 8, following the Nevada primary. However, she was still listed on the ballot, and after finishing ahead of Phillips, she re-entered the race.
The option for "uncommitted" delegates to the Democratic National Convention would essentially award an "unpledged" superdelegate free to support any candidate they chose. Numerous activists and elected officials, including Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and House Representative Rashida Tlaib, campaigned for voters to select the uncommitted option in protest of Biden's handling of the Gaza war. Some Armenian Americans also suggested voting uncommitted over Biden's actions involving the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In response, the advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel ran ads arguing that voting "uncommitted" would weaken Biden and support Donald Trump. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer stated that although she acknowledged the "pain" people feel about the war, she still encouraged people to vote for Biden because "any vote that's not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term".
To win delegates, a candidate must receive over 15% of votes statewide or in any congressional district. "Uncommitted" votes accounted for 17.1% of the votes in the 6th district and 17.3% in the 12th district, winning a delegate each from both districts.
"Uncommitted" won a majority in Dearborn, as well as in the cities of Hamtramck and Dearborn Heights. All three cities have a significant Arab American and Muslim population, which has been seen as a cause of Biden's defeat. Biden performed well in the western part of the city, but suffered a defeat in more heavily Muslim East Dearborn. However, he recorded his strongest result in the 13th precinct in the eastern part of the city, where a retirement community is located.
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