It’s not just Michigan.
Just a week after proponents of a permanent cease-fire in Gaza got more than 100,000 Michiganders to cast ballots for “uncommitted” rather than for US President Joe Biden, the movement pulled off a similarly impressive feat in Minnesota.
With more than 95% of ballots counted, “uncommitted” had received nearly 46,000 votes in Minnesota’s Democratic presidential primary ― more than 19% of the total votes cast ― while Biden was leading with 171,000. Since Michigan is a bigger state, “uncommitted” actually got a smaller percentage of the vote there (13%) than in Minnesota.
Pro-Palestinian activists in Minnesota, frustrated with the Biden administration’s support for Israel as it bombards the Palestinian territory, began organising in the state only in the past few days, using a budget of about $20,000 (£15,700) to reach people through online channels.
Crossing the 15% threshold entitles “uncommitted” to at least one delegate at the Democratic National Convention in August.
It’s not clear if this spells real trouble ― or any trouble at all ― for Biden in November. Appearing on CNN, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (Democrat) said the Democratic Party needs to take protest votes “seriously.”
“Their message is clear that they think this is an intolerable situation and that we can do more, and I think the president is hearing that,” Walz said, while also predicting of the protest voters: “We’ll get them back in November.”
Here are three more takeaways from the Super Tuesday primaries, at least the ones where races have been called. (California likes to take its time.)
Haley’s Win In Vermont Gives Her A Reason To Fight On
Ahead of the South Carolina primary on February 24, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley promised that she would stay in the Republican race for president through Super Tuesday.
Now Super Tuesday has come and gone, providing Haley with a win in Vermont on the heels of her victory in the District of Columbia primary on Sunday.
That’s apparently enough for Haley to march onward, even as former President Donald Trump’s hold on the nomination is all but assured.
“We’re honoured to have received the support of millions of Americans across the country today, including in Vermont where Nikki became the first Republican woman to win two presidential primary contests,” Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement Tuesday night.
“Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united.’ Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump,” she said. “That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters’ concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.”
Haley’s campaign is not alone in demanding that Trump take her support seriously. Appearing on Fox News, longtime Republican strategist Karl Rove said Trump’s team needs to be “concerned about unifying the GOP.”
“There’s still some work to be done to unify the Republican Party, and that’s going to depend a lot on his tone tonight and whether or not he stops doing things like calling [Haley] ‘birdbrain’ and threatening that if you give money to her campaign you’re going to be permanently banned,” he said.
Gaza Cease-Fire Advocates Lose In California
While “uncommitted” had a good night in Minnesota, the sentiment behind it ― a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war that has devastated the Gaza Strip ― was defeated in California.
In the Golden State’s nonpartisan US Senate primary, Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat, and former Los Angeles Dodgers star Steve Garvey, a Republican, were projected to be the two proceeding to the November election.
Neither candidate has called on Israel to end its operations against Gaza. Schiff, the prohibitive favourite in the general election, is one of the Democratic Party’s more stalwart pro-Israel lawmakers. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee endorsed Schiff and congratulated him on his projected win.
Thanks to millions of dollars in negative advertising designed to elevate Garvey, Schiff got to pick his opponent ― and lock out his more progressive rivals, Democratic Representatives Katie Porter and Barbara Lee.
Porter came out for a “lasting bilateral cease-fire” in December, though she emphasised the need for the Palestinian militant group Hamas to release Israeli hostages, taken in its October 7 attack on Israel, as part of that deal and did not make it a central theme of her bid.
Lee, by contrast, was the clear favourite for voters prioritising an end to the war in Gaza. She supported a cease-fire as far back as mid-October and campaigned heavily on the position as evidence of her progressive foreign-policy credentials.
In the end, though, Lee’s vehement calls for a cease-fire inspired the grassroots left but made little difference at the ballot box, where she was coming in a distant fourth behind Porter.
A Super-ish Night For The Far-Right
The Republican’s hard-right flank had a pretty decent night. North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, a rampant conspiracy theorist, won a virtually uncontested primary to become the Republican Party’s gubernatorial nominee in a swing state. Elsewhere, incumbents barely beat back challenges from insurgents who tried to label them RINOs (Republicans in name only).
In a Texas congressional district that runs north of the Rio Grande along much of the state’s border with Mexico, incumbent Republican Representative Tony Gonzales is headed to a May runoff against an assault-rifle-toting Second Amendment activist, Brandon Herrera (who has co-opted the once-popular anti-Biden slogan “Let’s Go, Brandon” for his campaign). The district, with its proximity to Mexico, is a battlefront for the debate over immigration policy. Gonzales drew primary challengers for reasons that include opposing a 2023 border security bill that he considered to be too cruel toward asylum-seekers, even while maintaining the need to keep out drug smugglers — underscoring how there’s little room for moderation when it comes to the right’s position on immigration.
Even Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan was forced into a runoff by David Covey, a former local Republican chairman who supports the Texas secessionist movement and has earned Trump’s backing. Right-wingers targeted Phelan, a staunch conservative, as part of a revenge tour for his decision to back the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a fellow Republican, late last year.
In North Carolina’s sole toss-up House seat, Laurie Buckhout, a retired Army colonel and a political newcomer, defeated Sandy Smith, the Republican’s nominee for the seat in 2020 and 2022. Two years ago, Smith lost what was then an open seat in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District to Democrat Don Davis. This year, national Republicans concerned about Smith’s electability spent heavily to prop up Buckhout. And it worked: Buckhout was projected to win the primary by near-double digits, advancing to a general election where she has a shot at flipping a seat and bolstering the GOP’s shrivelling majority. But the fact that the GOP’s Congressional Leadership Fund had to spend at all shows the inherent strength of the far-right in primaries.
And in Arkansas, Rep. Steve Womack survived a primary challenge from his right. State Senator Clint Penzo accused Womack of being a Kevin McCarthy-aligned RINO after Womack declined to back the failed bid of firebrand Jim Jordan (Republican, Ohio) to become House speaker following McCarthy’s ouster.
Progressive DA Survives A Primary Challenge
Opposition from Elon Musk wasn’t enough to oust the progressive district attorney in Travis County, Texas. José Garza easily survived a primary challenge after the tech billionaire encouraged voters in the county, which includes Austin, to boot him from office.
Garza, Travis County’s top cop since 2021, was one of the progressives who has faced criticism for the perception of rising crime and lax policies on enforcement and prosecution in liberal cities. But Garza leaned into his record, campaigning for another four-year term on the strength of his office’s progressive reforms, such as gun violence prevention programs and diversion for mental health treatment.
And while the property crime rate in Austin slightly exceeds the average rate for similarly sized US cities, per the Austin Police Department, the city’s year-to-date murder rate is down from the previous year, making the argument against Garza over crime rates a tougher sell than in, say, San Francisco, where voters ditched their progressive prosecutor in 2022 amid higher rates of petty crime and visible homelessness and drug use.