As the 2024 election year begins to pick up, primary elections are taking place across the country. With President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump winning each of their respective primaries so far, they will likely face each other once again in the general election this November.
Michigan’s primaries will take place on Feb. 27. Ahead of the Democratic primary, a group of Michigan voters launched the Listen to Michigan campaign encouraging people to vote “uncommitted” instead of for any of the candidates listed on the ballot in protest of Biden’s support of the Israeli military and hesitance to call for a cease-fire in Gaza. Voting “uncommitted” is an option on Michigan’s primary ballot that signifies a general allegiance with the Democratic party but not an endorsement of a specific candidate.
The more progressive wing of the Democratic party has expressed discontent with Biden’s response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Although the Biden administration is currently pushing for a six-week pause in the fighting, Biden has previously been reluctant to call for a cease-fire in Gaza. Critics have also objected to the U.S. military aid to Israel that has continued under the Biden administration and throughout the Israel-Hamas war.
Layla Elabed, campaign manager of Listen to Michigan, said in an interview with The Michigan Daily that voting “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary is a way for voters to send a message to Biden about his handling of the conflict in the Middle East.
“It’s our way of telling Biden to listen to Michigan and that we’re uncommitted to his reelection if he continues funding Israel’s war and genocide in Gaza,” Elabed said.
Elabed said a similar campaign during the 2008 Michigan Democratic primary was able to galvanize support in the state for former President Barack Obama. When Obama did not qualify for the Democratic primary, his supporters urged people to vote “uncommitted” in protest.
“The (idea) came out of the Obama campaign in 2008, when he didn’t make the ballot in the Michigan primaries,” Elabed said. “His campaign was able to mobilize young voters, Black voters, voters of Color to vote ‘uncommitted’ as a rejection of Hillary Clinton, and it really embarrassed the Clinton campaign.”
Elabed also underscored the importance of Arab and Muslim voters in helping Biden win Michigan in 2020. She said Biden must change his policies on the Israel-Hamas war if he hopes to receive the same level of support in 2024, as he is currently polling behind Trump in Michigan.
“The Muslim and Arab community really showed up and showed out for Biden in 2020, and it was largely due to the mobilization of Muslim and Arab voters that gave Biden Michigan,” Elabed said. “There’s a long time between now and November for Biden to change his policies and earn support from voters, but time is running out.”
As a part of the Listen to Michigan campaign, more than 30 elected officials from Southeast Michigan have signed a letter addressed to voters across the state pledging to vote “uncommitted” in the upcoming primary, and urging them to do the same. Signers of the letter include Washtenaw County Commissioner Annie Somerville and Ann Arbor Public School board members Rima Mohammad and Jeff Gaynor, who both voted in favor of the cease-fire resolution passed by the Ann Arbor School Board of Education last month.
“As representatives of our great nation we stand firmly with the people, unwavering in our solidarity,” the letter read. “Let us be clear: we unequivocally demand that the Biden Administration immediately call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”
In an interview with The Daily, Somerville said she signed the letter to encourage voters to use their vote in the way that most aligns with their values.
“For students and young people in general who are voting for the first time and who have never voted in a presidential primary, I think people should make the vote with their conscience,” Somerville said. “The reason why I’m voting ‘uncommitted’ in the primaries is because it’s the one tool that I feel like I have as just one person to show that this is serious enough for me and that I’m not happy with what’s going on in Gaza right now.”
Somerville said that by voting “uncommitted,” Democratic voters can encourage Biden to change his policies as the prospective Democratic nominee in the general election later this year.
“I’ve been a Democrat my entire life,” Somerville said. “I voted for Biden in 2020. I encouraged other people to vote for him in 2020. I knocked doors for Democrats across the state, encouraging them to vote for Democrats up and down the ticket. … He obviously knows that Michigan, for many reasons, is going to be a difficult state with the way things are right now, so I would be surprised if nothing changes before November.”
Gaynor said that although he hopes to see a change in Biden’s policies before November, he will still be voting for Biden over Trump if nothing changes.
“He’s gonna get my vote in November,” Gaynor said. “Given that Trump is likely the (Republican) candidate, we have to vote for the Democrat running. On the other hand, we have to send (Biden) a message that his support in terms of providing military aid to Israel at this time, is not acceptable. And that message is in the Democratic primary.”
Gaynor, who is Jewish, said Jewish values have driven his decision to vote “uncommitted” in the upcoming primary election.
“Growing up Jewish, I understand the allegiance to Israel, but also growing up Jewish, I learned principles that stand before that mindless acceptance of anything (Israel) does,” Gaynor said. “My hope is that people will come together and talk this out and show empathy for each other, and understand the views of each side.”
University of Michigan student organization Students Allied for Freedom and Equality has been in conversation with the Listen to Michigan campaign. Although there is no formal partnership between the two organizations, Josiah Walker, external director of SAFE, said he encourages people to vote “uncommitted” in the primary to send a message to the Biden campaign.
“We think that voting ‘uncommitted’ is a good idea and that it gives people a more accurate sense of the sort of political leverage they can utilize in subsequent elections,” Walker said. “The answer isn’t to stop voting altogether; rather, it is to understand the voting process and context of the bigger picture, which is influencing societal outcomes.”
Walker said even if Biden’s policies change drastically before November, it will be hard for his campaign to regain the support of pro-Palestine U-M students.
“It would be good if Biden’s eyes, ears, heart and mind are one day open to understanding the atrocities he has enhanced against Palestinians,” Walker said. “But by then, thousands more lives may have been lost.”
Daily News Editor Mary Corey can be reached at mcorey@umich.edu.