Biden, Trump Win Presidential Primaries in Michigan

Biden, Trump Win Presidential Primaries in Michigan
Biden, Trump Win Presidential Primaries in Michigan

U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won their respective party primaries in the state of Michigan Tuesday.

Both were widely expected to win, but the margins of those victories were closely watched as signs of support for the two candidates in the key state, ahead of their likely rematch of the 2020 presidential election won by Biden.

With about two-thirds of the ballots counted in the Democratic presidential primary, Biden led with 81%, while 13% of voters chose “uncommitted.”

Michigan is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country, and opposition to Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas militants led some Democrats to call for voters to select “uncommitted” instead of casting a vote for Biden.

Supporters of the effort for “uncommitted” ballots said they were hoping for 10,000 such votes, a level that was easily surpassed. With about two-thirds of the ballots counted, there were already more than 74,000 “uncommitted” votes.

With 80% of ballots counted in the Republican presidential primary, Trump led with 68% of the vote compared to 27% for former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

Trump won the political battleground state in the 2016 national election in his successful run for the presidency, but Biden defeated him there in 2020, helping him turn back Trump’s reelection effort.

READ ALSO: Biden wins South Carolina Democratic primary

Haley has remained in the race despite not winning any of the states contested so far. She has argued that American voters do not want a Biden-Trump rematch in the November election and that if it occurs, Trump would lose a second time to Biden.

Haley has said she will fight on until at least the Super Tuesday contests on March 5 that involve 15 states, two territories and one-third of the overall delegates at stake in the Republican race.

Republicans will formally name their presidential candidate during a national convention in July. Democrats will follow with their convention in August.

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