Michigan Primary Today: What to Expect

Voters in both parties will get a chance to weigh in on the presidential race today in Michigan.

Polls close in Michigan at 8 pm ET. Expect results soon after.

With Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley losing in her home state of South Carolina, few expect her to make much of a stand in the Wolverine State. As reported by USAToday, Haley is vowing to continue so long as he can offer an alternative to Trump:

Just a day after a sizable loss in her home state of South Carolina, Nikki Haley made her case on Sunday to Michigan, ahead of this state’s Republican presidential primary on Tuesday.

In an interview with me ahead of her Sunday evening rally, Haley said she is the Republican Party’s best hope to beat President Joe Biden in November. And that’s her No. 1 goal.

“I’m continuing this fight because 70% of Americans don’t want to see Donald Trump or Joe Biden,” she told me. “If you look at the early states, 40% (of Republican voters) have rejected Donald Trump. If you’re the Republican technical incumbent, that doesn’t bode well for the Republican Party.

“And so as long as there is this group of Americans that are saying we want better, I feel a duty to keep on fighting. I feel a duty to keep on showing a voice.”

Well, that’s fine and good, except Republican voters are rejecting Haley so it’s immaterial what the rest of the country wants. You have to win the primary before you can play in the general. So far, Haley has zero points on the board in terms of victories outside a handful of delegates.

It’s obvious Haley isn’t going to win any future states and the GOP is locked on nominating Donald Trump. In that regard, Haley’s ongoing presence in the race is a detriment to her party beating Joe Biden in November.

In the end, Haley’s ambitions won’t matter if the money dries up. According to CNBC, the spigot is closing:

Americans for Prosperity Action, the network backed by billionaire Charles Koch, is pausing its financial support of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s campaign a day after she lost to former President Donald Trump in her home-state primary in South Carolina.

AFP Action said it still endorses Haley for president but now its support will only come in the form of words — not cash.

“Given the challenges in the primary states ahead, we don’t believe any outside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory,” AFP Action CEO Emily Seidel wrote in an email to staff, first reported by Politico. “And so while we will continue to endorse her, we will focus our resources where we can make the difference.”

Even billionaires don’t like flushing money down the political toilet on a losing cause.

Haley will stick it out regardless of the drubbing she takes in Michigan at least up until Super Tuesday on March 5. At this point, she’ll still be collecting a few delegates here and there which will leave her the runner-up in the process heading into 2028.

Biden’s Michigan follies

Democrats are voting today in their primary as well and there’s there’s some question about Biden’s standing among the larger Mulsim population in Michigan. For some terrorist sympathizers within the Democratic Party, Biden’s support for Israel’s survival against radical Islam is a bridge too far.

As Axios reports, there could be a larger share for the “Uncommitted” option against Joe Biden in tonight’s primary results:

Michigan activists want to shock and shame the Biden campaign in the state’s Tuesday primary to take seriously the risk of losing the support of Muslim and Arab Americans.

Why it matters: The war in Gaza has hurt President Biden’s support among the same voters who were crucial to him flipping the state from Trump in 2020.

Activists want voters to back “uncommitted” instead of Biden.

Biden has lost the community “at a fundamental level,” says Abbas Alawieh, a spokesperson for the Listen to Michigan campaign, during Israel’s military strikes — described as the most destructive in recent history.

“[T]his is a warning to Biden like, get your s–t together or you’re going to lose,” said Adam Abusalah, a Dearborn native who worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign and is also pushing an “uncommitted” vote.

This is the conundrum Democrats find themselves in this year. If they stand on the side of Israel, they risk alienating radical groups of Muslims that generally support the idea of wiping out the world’s only Jewish state. On the other hand, Hamas is a terrorist organization. No sane, rational, or civilized human being on the planet would stand by and approve of their actions on Oct. 7, 2023, or their ongoing pledges to commit more atrocities in the future until Israel is destroyed.

Biden will still easily win the primary tonight but examining the results will indicate just how big the Muslim problem could be for Democrats in November.