'Uncommitted' Wins Nearly 20% of Democratic Primary Vote in Minnesota

Nearly 20% of Minnesotans who took part in their state's Democratic presidential primary on Super Tuesday voted "uncommitted," the latest warning to President Joe Biden that his unwavering support for Israel's assault on Gaza risks eroding his base ahead of November's high-stakes general election.

Roughly 46,000 Democratic primary voters in Minnesota, which Biden won in 2020, marked the uncommitted option on their ballots just a week after more than 100,000 Michiganders registered their own protest votes against the incumbent president.

Leaders of the hastily organized uncommitted effort in Minnesota expect to win at least one delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Uncommitted won two delegates in Michigan.

(Update: Uncommitted won 11 delegates in Minnesota.)

"Tonight's numbers showed that President Biden cannot earn back our votes with just rhetoric," Asma Nizami, a spokesperson for Vote Uncommitted MN, said Tuesday. "It is not enough to simply use the word 'cease-fire' while Biden funds bombs that kill civilians every day."

"Democrats want Joe Biden to change his policies: stop sending weapons to Israel and use all possible leverage to end Israel's war crimes in Gaza," Nizami added.

Biden, who is likely to face former President Donald Trump in November, swept to victory in all 15 Democratic primaries held in U.S. states on Tuesday. (Businessman Jason Palmer won American Samoa's Democratic caucus.)

In total, more than 250,000 voters marked uncommitted or a similar option in Democratic primaries across the 15 states, including more than 54,000 in Massachusetts, over 43,400 in Colorado, and around 88,000 in North Carolina.

"Voters strongly rejected Biden's funding of Israel's war in Gaza at the polls," said Layla Elebad, campaign manager of Listen to Michigan. "And they will continue to do so until the Biden administration changes course and calls for a permanent cease-fire and stops their unchecked funding of Israel's genocide."

On the Republican side, Trump won every state that voted Tuesday except for Vermont. The Financial Times and other outlets reported early Wednesday that Nikki Haley, Trump's last-remaining Republican challenger, has decided to end her campaign.

"Take them seriously, their message is clear that they think this is an intolerable situation and that we can do more."

Organizers of uncommitted efforts across the U.S. have made clear that their goal is not to harm Biden's general election prospects, but rather to make clear that his support for Israel's war on Gaza is both morally odious and politically dangerous, potentially costing him key support in Michigan and other battleground states.

In a statement following Tuesday's contests, senior Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said the president "shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East" and is "working tirelessly to that end."

But the administration's military support for Israel has continued even as Biden has called for a temporary cease-fire and criticized the Israeli government for impeding the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Biden's campaign has also reportedly been avoiding college campuses and holding smaller events to dodge Gaza-related protests.

"Our goal is to get the president's attention, and we are doing that," Asma Mohammed, an organizer of the uncommitted effort in Minnesota, said Tuesday as the primary results rolled in. The uncommitted vote in Minnesota was reportedly strongest in areas with higher concentrations of young voters.

Polling data released Tuesday by the Center for Economic and Policy Research showed that 62% of voters who supported Biden in 2020 want the U.S. to "stop weapons shipments to Israel until Israel discontinues its attacks on the people of Gaza."

Tim Walz, Minnesota's Democratic governor, said during a CNN appearance late Tuesday that "the situation in Gaza is intolerable" and that uncommitted voters are "asking to be heard."

"And that's what they should be doing," said Walz. "That's a healthy thing that's happening here... Take them seriously, their message is clear that they think this is an intolerable situation and that we can do more."