President Biden won Minnesota’s Democratic primary Tuesday, according to a projection from Decision Desk HQ, giving the president another boost amid pushback on his handling of the war in the Middle East.
Minnesota has a large Muslim population, and activists in the state have encouraged voters who are disgruntled by Biden’s pro-Israel stance to withhold their vote from him in the primary.
The “Abandon Biden” organization, which has been advocating for protest votes in various states, has a presence in Minnesota and focused on the state after helping to garner 100,000 “uncommitted” votes in Michigan last week. Biden has faced growing pressure, especially after the Michigan primary, from Arab and Muslim voters to back a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
The administration has been actively involved in negotiations for a six-week cease-fire to get aid into Gaza and for Hamas to release hostages, but maintains that a permanent cease-fire would only help the militant group. Some activists and progressives have declared that they will never support Biden, even against former President Trump, while some think it’s not too late for him to fix the situation with voters.
Biden traveled to Minnesota, a typically reliably blue state, in November after Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) launched a long-shot primary bid against him. Biden has dominated the primary, and challengers like Phillips have not been able to gain any momentum against him.
Biden won Minnesota in 2020 with nearly 53 percent of the vote.