Protest vote comes second to Biden in Michigan primary; Assyrians, Chaldeans among those “uncommitted”

Yasmeen Altaji | Feb. 27, 2024

Editor’s note: This is a live story tracking an election and will be updated.

Protest votes came second to President Joe Biden in Michigan’s Democratic presidential primary election Tuesday following a campaign led by Middle Eastern voters to vote “uncommitted” in a collective pushback against Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war.

The Associated Press called the race around 9:00 pm. Former President Donald Trump beat Nikki Haley in the state’s Republican primary race.

With more than 100,000 “uncommitted” votes as of Wednesday, many in Michigan’s Middle Eastern community, including some Assyrians and Chaldeans, have made clear the at-home cost of Biden’s policy on Israel’s war in Gaza.

In the Tuesday elections, any registered voter is eligible to vote in the primaries, but they must choose a party ballot — in this case, Republican or Democratic. Listen to Michigan urged voters to select “uncommitted” on the Democratic ballot.

The campaign, an initiative by the Listen to Michigan project, aims to “send Biden a direct message”: He’s risking a key voting bloc in the November presidential election for his handling of the crisis in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll has reached nearly 30,000 since the start of the war, prompting international concern about the possibility of genocide.

Michigan hosts the country’s largest Arab American and Muslim populations among a broader Middle Eastern demographic that largely voted in support of Biden in 2020. He won the state by about 150,000 votes. Now, some — including several in the state’s Assyrian and Chaldean community — are prepared to withhold their ballots.

Stephanie Yaldo-Sheena of Royal Oak, Mich. is one of the thousands who voted “uncommitted” in Michigan’s presidential primary election.

“I believe that we should not be funding Israel’s attacks on the Palestinian people,” Yaldo-Sheena told The Word in a message.

She said she wants to “apply political pressure on the Biden administration…to do what his voters want him to do, and that’s to call for a ceasefire.”

Several state leaders, including Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hamood, pledged their “uncommitted” votes, per Listen to Michigan’s website.

Michigan is considered a key state for Democrats, often viewed as a bellwether for candidate success in the presidential election later in the year. The state is home to an estimated 160,000 Chaldeans and Assyrians, though counts vary.

“My family and community know what it means to be displaced, persecuted against, and harmed by war,” Yaldo-Sheena said. “This is a no-brainer for me.”