President Joe Biden’s campaign received a substantial number of “protest votes” in the primaries Tuesday night, adding to the narrative that it is having difficulties uniting a fractured party base.
In the Democratic Wisconsin primary, 8.4% of voters chose the “uninstructed” option instead of voting for President Biden, up to almost 48,000 votes. An additional 17,553 votes — equaling 3.1 %, were cast for Democrat Representative Dean Phillips, who isn’t in the race.
The vote total for “uncommitted” in Connecticut was 11.5%, just below 8,000 votes. In Rhode Island, 14.9% of voters—just under 4,000 votes—were “uncommitted.”
The uncommitted results come as activists in numerous states have pushed voters not to vote for Biden in protest of several issues, including the handling of the White House of the war between Hamas and Israel.
Some activists in Wisconsin celebrated Wednesday after votes came in.
“In Wisconsin alone, nearly 48,000 voters cast an unrestricted ballot in the Democratic presidential primary, far surpassing campaign goals and significantly exceeding President Biden’s margin of victory over Trump in the 2020 general election,” said Our Revolution, a progressive activist group, in a press release.
“Similarly, in Rhode Island and Connecticut, 15% and 12% of Democratic primary voters marked their ballots as ‘uncommitted,’ further amplifying the call for a bold redirection in policy.”
President Biden won Wisconsin in 2020 over Donald Trump by a little over 20,000 votes.
Voters continue to remain uncommitted
Voters continuing to remain uncommitted instead of voting for Biden has become an overarching theme during primary season, including Super Tuesday, when thousands of voters in about a half dozen states declined to support him.
“This president must decide if loyalty to Netanyahu is worth delivering Trump the election in November,” Nina Turner, progressive activist, posted on X in response to the Tuesday election results. “He must decide.”
On the GOP side, many voters also didn’t vote for Trump.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley received 12.8% of the vote in Wisconsin. Over 76,000 voters voted for Haley even though she is no longer in the race. Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis earned 3.4% of the vote, with “uninstructed” receiving 22.1%.
“What they’re reading in Wisconsin,” Ammar Moussa, Biden campaign Rapid Response Director, posted on X following Trump’s performance. “Donald Trump, minus 120,000 Wisconsin GOP votes, becomes Tuesday’s biggest loser.”
Just over 6,000 Connecticut voters, about 14%, voted for Haley in that GOP primary. Haley received 10% of the vote in Rhode Island, around 1,300 voters.
