The 2024 Michigan Democratic presidential primary was held on February 27, 2024, as part of the Democratic Party primaries for the 2024 presidential election. 140 delegates to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

will be allocated to presidential candidates. The contest took place concurrently with its Republican counterpart. Despite Biden winning in a landslide, he faced a challenge from “ uncommitted” in an otherwise generally uncontested primary season. It was the first entity to win delegates outside of Biden that primary season, and won over 100,000 votes. The campaign's performance was attributed to

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, young and

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

voters protesting Biden over his handling of the

Israel–Hamas war An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place chiefly in and around the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. On that day, Palestinian militant groups launched 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, a surp ...

. The uncommitted vote in Michigan inspired similar protest votes in other states, eventually becoming a national movement.

Candidates

The Michigan Secretary of State identified the following candidates (listed alphabetically) as Democratic Party presidential candidates in 2024: * Joe Biden *

Dean Phillips Dean Benson Phillips (born January 20, 1969) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 3rd congressional district since 2019. The district encompasses the western suburbs of the Twin Citi ...

* Marianne Williamson 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.

Campaign for "uncommitted"

In addition, an 'uncommitted' option appeared on the ballot. Any "uncommitted" delegate awarded to the Democratic National Convention would essentially be an "unpledged"

superdelegate In American politics, a superdelegate is an unpledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is seated automatically and chooses for themselves for whom they vote. These Democratic Party superdelegates (who make up slightly under 15 ...

and free to support any candidate they chose. Numerous activists and elected officials, including Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and House Representative

Rashida Tlaib Rashida Harbi Tlaib (, ; born July 24, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019. The district includes the western half of Detroit, along with several of its western suburbs and much of the D ...

, campaigned for voters to select the uncommitted option in protest of Biden's handling of the

. Some Armenian Americans also suggested voting uncommitted over Biden's actions involving the

2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh Between 19 and 20 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive against the self-declared breakaway state of Artsakh, a move seen as a violation of the 2020 ceasefire agreement signed in the aftermath of the Second Nago ...

. In response, the advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel ran ads arguing that voting "uncommitted" would weaken Biden and support

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer stated that although she acknowledges 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".

Endorsements

Polling

Results

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.

Notes

;Partisan clients

References

{{2024 Democratic presidential primaries

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Democratic primary This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries. 1912 This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Unit ...

Michigan Democratic primary Michigan Democratic primaries