WASHINGTON — The Associated Press declared President Joe Biden the winner of Michigan’s Democratic primary, based on an analysis of initial vote returns as the incumbent president continues to seek renomination.
The AP declared Biden the winner at 9 p.m. ET and the results showed him with an overwhelming lead in 21 locations across the state. At the time the race was called, Biden led with about 78% of the vote statewide, with the “unpledged” option on the ballot a distant second with 16%. These initial returns came from a wide swath of the state, including more densely populated areas in and around the cities of Detroit and Grand Rapids, as well as rural counties in the north.
Activists in Michigan, including younger voters and Muslim and Arab-American voters, had launched an effort to vote “unaffiliated” in protest of Biden’s support for Israel during the war with Gaza. Supporters of the effort include Rep. Rashida Tlaib, whose district includes parts of Wayne and Oakland counties, and Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. More than half of the residents of Dearborn, just south of Detroit in Wayne County, are of Middle Eastern or North African descent, according to Census figures.
Biden achieved a score above 60% in every province where votes were counted. This included Eaton and Washtenaw counties, which included the suburbs of Lansing and the university city of Ann Arbor, respectively. In Oakland County, the state’s second most populous, Biden led “uncommitted” by 67 percentage points.
Biden won all 83 of Michigan’s counties four years ago, in a more competitive contest that took place later in the cycle.
Democrats will allocate 117 pledged delegates based on tonight’s results, the largest pool of delegates available to date. To qualify for delegates, candidates must receive at least 15% of the vote statewide or in a congressional district. “Uncommitted” will receive delegates if it remains above that threshold.
More than 106,000 ballots had been reported in the Democratic primary when the AP called the race. The last polls closed at 9 p.m. Eastern, but in most of the state they closed an hour earlier. Tuesday’s primary also marked the first major statewide race since Michigan expanded early voting and allowed early mapping of absentee ballots last year. About 1 million voters cast ballots in the Democratic or Republican primaries before Election Day.
