‘Uncommitted’ racks up more than 45K votes in Minnesota Democratic primary

More than 45,000 Democratic primary voters in Minnesota selected “uncommitted” on their primary ballots this year, surpassing support for long-shot Democratic challenger Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) in his home state.

With 80 percent of the vote reported early Wednesday morning, “uncommitted” had received 45,871 votes — 18.9 percent of the total, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s election results tracker.

President Biden won the state’s primary, with 170,890 votes, or 70.6 percent of the total reported vote as of Wednesday morning. Phillips came in third place, with 18,969 votes, or 7.8 percent of the total vote count.

Author Marianne Williamson — who briefly suspended her campaign, but rejoined the race last week — had the fourth-most support, with 1.4 percent of the total, followed by Jason Palmer, who received 0.3 percent of the vote.

“Congratulations to Joe Biden, Uncommitted, Marianne Williamson, and Nikki Haley for demonstrating more appeal to Democratic Party loyalists than me,” Phillips wrote in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, last night, adding, “And, Jason Palmer.”

The uncommitted vote comes amid a wave of urgency among progressive Americans who are pushing for primary voters to cast their ballots “uncommitted,” rather than for the incumbent. While “uncommitted” protest votes have been typical in past primaries in some states, activists hoped this year the protest vote would send a message to Biden on their frustration with his policy around Israel and its war in Gaza against Hamas.

The “uncommitted” vote proved strong in other primary races on Super Tuesday, as well.

In North Carolina, with more than 99 percent of the vote reported, Biden received 87.3 percent of the primary vote, followed by “no preference” with 12.7 percent support, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s election results tracker.

In Massachusetts, with more than 99 percent of the vote reported, the president led with 82.9 percent of the vote, followed by 9.4 percent for “no preference.”

Last week in Michigan, more than 100,000 Democratic primary voters cast ballots for “uncommitted,” accounting for 13.2 percent of the total vote.

In a statement on the Minnesota “uncommitted” vote, a Biden campaign spokesperson said the president “believes making your voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans.”

“He 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,” the spokesperson added.

Updated at 9:08 a.m.