- Wisconsin is a key part of Biden’s ‘blue wall’ to win re-election
- Democrats are trying to get 20,000 protest votes, the same margin by which Biden beat Trump in Wisconsin in the 2020 election.
- Biden has faced protest votes in other states: ‘Uncommitted’ has won 25 delegates so far
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President Joe Biden faces another humiliating protest vote in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary as voters protest his Gaza policy, jeopardizing his chances of winning a critical state in the general election.
Voters who oppose Biden’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, many of whom are young progressives, are urging Democrats to choose the “uninstructed delegation” or “unengaged” option on their ballots in the state presidential primaries on Tuesday.
Biden has faced similar protest votes in other Democratic primaries, including in the key states of Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, Colorado and New Hampshire.
“Uncommitted” has won 25 delegates so far, compared to Biden’s more than 2,600, according to ABC News’ count.
President Joe Biden faces a protest vote in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary on Tuesday.
But Wisconsin is part of the Biden campaign’s ‘blue wall’, a swath of Midwestern states filled with blue-collar voters who traditionally voted Democratic until Donald Trump won many of them in 2016.
Biden won them in 2020 and needs to keep them on his side if he wants a second term in the White House.
On Tuesday, the goal of one group, Listen to Wisconsin, is to convince 20,000 Democratic voters to vote in the primary for an alternative option. That number is the margin by which Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin four years ago.
Halah Ahmad, a Palestinian American activist and spokesperson for Listen to Wisconsin, who voted for Biden in 2020, said she felt betrayed by him.
“I feel really betrayed by the party leadership,” she said. NBC News. “I think history will be on our side, but for now, if I want to participate in this democracy, campaigning without instructions is my only option.”
Many voters are beginning to feel the same way. According to a March Gallup poll, approval among Americans of Israeli military action in Gaza fell to 36%.
Wisconsin has an open primary system where its races are open to all registered voters.
In 2020, Biden won the state over Trump by just 0.63%, a much narrower margin than expected.
Democrats are trying to get 20,000 protest votes, the same margin by which Biden beat Trump in Wisconsin in the 2020 election.
A man rides a bicycle near the rubble of the damaged building as the area around Al-Shifa Hospital is destroyed in Gaza City, Gaza.
Biden faces no significant opposition in the primary, so voters are turning to “uncommitted” and other options to express their anger over his Middle East policies.
The sitting president, who has been a strong supporter of Israel, is under pressure at home and abroad to do more to help the Palestinian population in Gaza, who are facing famine conditions.
The current president has tried to balance his support for Israel’s war against Hamas with his sympathy for the refugees and the more than 32,000 people who have died.
Tuesday is not Biden’s only experience with a protest vote.
Last month in Minnesota, about 19% of the votes in the Democratic primary went to the “uncommitted.” And, in Michigan last month, 13% of Democrats voted “uncommitted” rather than voting for the president.
While those margins are small, Biden also won some of those states by small margins, raising concerns that enough of a protest vote could hand key battlegrounds to Trump in November’s general election.