Super Tuesday states with an “uncommitted” or “no preference” option on the Democratic presidential primary ballot
Minnesota will send 11 “uncommitted” delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the DFL Party announced Wednesday.
Why it matters: While President Biden won the state in a landslide, the outcome was a win for activists looking to use the ballot option to send a message to the Biden administration over the Israel-Hamas war.
Driving the news: More than 45,000 Minnesota’s Democratic primary voters — close to 19% of the electorate — backed “uncommitted” on Tuesday.
The performance netted the movement 11 of the 75 Democratic delegate spots up for grabs in the state on Tuesday. President Biden, who won 70% of the vote, will get the other 64 delegates.
Catch up fast: The Minnesota uncommitted push followed a similar effort in Michigan. Local organizers in Minnesota ramped up a largely grassroots campaign that included phone banks and newspaper ads in the final days leading up to the primary.
“We only had a week and the smallest amount of funding at @uncommittedmn. But we showed up for Gaza,” organizer Asma Mohammed wrote on X. “The Biden administration has no choice but to respond.”
Zoom in: “Uncommitted” performed strongest in the Twin Cities metro.
In the Minneapolis-based 5th Congressional District, a DFL stronghold represented by U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, it won just over 30% of the vote.
Zoom out: At least half of the 16 Super Tuesday states had an “uncommitted” line, no preference option or write-in slot on their Democratic presidential primary ballot, Axios’ Sareen Habeshian and Emma Hurt write.
The “uncommitted” vote share elsewhere on Tuesday ranged from 3.7% in Iowa to 12% in North Carolina.
The big picture: The movement’s success underscores concerns some Democrats have about how the war in Gaza may hurt Biden among some factions of the party’s base.
Some fear a failure to win those voters back could hurt the president’s chances in November, including in Minnesota, which former President Trump came within 45,000 votes of flipping in 2016.
The other side: The Biden campaign told the New York Times that the president “believes making your voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans.”
“He shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East. He’s working tirelessly to that end,” the spokesperson Lauren Hitt said.
On another note, I do like Axios’ format here.
Anyway, thoughts?
