The push by voters in the Democratic presidential primaries protesting President Biden over the bloodshed in Gaza moves Tuesday to Washington state.
That’s where the “uncommitted” vote may once again reach double digits, as a form of protest against the president’s support of Israel in its six-month war with Hamas.
After the “uncommitted” ballot box discontent reached 13% in Michigan late last month, and topped out at 19% in Minnesota and 29% in Hawaii last week, activists have been urging voters in Washington state to keep the pressure on Biden to reach a cease-fire to end the fighting in Gaza.
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Washington state, along with Georgia and Mississippi, hold Democratic and Republican presidential primaries on Tuesday. But Washington is the only one with an “uncommitted” option on the ballot.
And while Washington doesn’t have a large Arab American population similar to Michigan and Minnesota, it’s long been one of the centers of the anti-establishment progressive movement.
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The war in Gaza was triggered on Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists, in a brutal attack, killed over 1,200 Israelis, including women and children. Israel responded by attacking Gaza, which Hamas has long controlled, with airstrikes and an ensuing ground invasion. Hamas says over 31,000 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed in the fighting.
While Washington has supported Israel since the fighting first erupted, Biden in last week’s primetime State of the Union address turned up his pressure on Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to allow increased humanitarian assistance into Gaza and pursue a two-state solution once the war was over.
But it’s likely that many ballots in Washington – which votes by mail – were already cast ahead of the president’s address last Thursday.
It may be a while before the final vote in Washington’s primary is tabulated.
Election officials say they expect about half of the vote to be counted and reported when polls close on Tuesday night. But it may take until the end of the week for the final vote to be reported.
The Biden campaign, in response to the “uncommitted” vote in recent weeks, has highlighted that “the President believes making your voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans.”
And the campaign has noted that Biden “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.”
Both Biden and former President Donald Trump are all but certain to officially clinch their respective party presidential nominations on Tuesday night.
With no major challengers left, both Biden and Trump are expected to collect all or nearly all the delegates up for grabs in Tuesday’s contests, putting each of them over the top and making them the Democratic and Republican presumptive presidential nominees.
