Pro-Gaza ceasefire groups say Biden will lose the general election in Arizona
A coalition of groups supporting a ceasefire in Gaza say that although President Joe Biden won Tuesday’s Presidential Preference Election in Arizona, he will lose in the general.
Biden won the Democratic PPE with roughly 90% of the vote. Pro-ceasefire groups critical of Biden’s lack of action asked Arizona voters to support Democrat Marianne Williamson in protest. Ahmed Ewaisha is a member of the coalition:
“Biden has lost Arizona,” Ewaisha said.
The coalition argues that because Williamson collected around 14,000 votes, Biden can’t beat former President Donald Trump. In 2020, Biden beat Trump in Arizona’s general election by about 10,000 votes.
“Thus, the results of yesterday’s Presidential Preference Election demonstrates that Biden will not win Arizona’s general election,” he said.
However, turnout for the general election is historically much higher.
In 2020’s general election, 80% of Arizona voters turned out, but Tuesday’s PPE election had close to 37% turnout, according to the results available as of Wednesday.
The coalition is comprised of four groups: Young Democrats of Maricopa County, Mass Liberation Arizona, Abandon Biden and the Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance.
They say their next steps are to turn their attention to Pennsylvania, where the PPE isn’t until late April.
There are more than 109,000 Muslims in Arizona, according to the coalition, and their polling indicates that 90% of them will not vote for Biden in 2024. Even if a fraction of the population are voters, that could have significant impact.
In other states like Michigan, the protest effort has been arguably more successful. There, more than 100,000 voters chose “uncommitted” rather than Biden on their ballots.
Arizona doesn’t have write-in options, which is why the protesters suggested people vote for Williamson. They’ve also acknowledged that while they never thought she could win, they don’t want Trump to win, either.
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