US president easily wins Michigan, but early results show strong support for a protest vote over his Gaza policy.

United States President Joe Biden has won the Democratic presidential primary in the state of Michigan, according to media projections, but early counts showed he faced significant opposition over his support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

In Michigan, which is home to a large Arab American constituency, Democratic voters had been urged to mark their primary ballots as “uncommitted” on Tuesday in protest at Biden’s Gaza policy.

With 16 percent of the votes counted, Biden had 79.6 percent support, with “uncommitted” getting 14.9 percent, according to The Associated Press news agency.

The latter amounts to 23,000 ballots, far higher than the goal of 10,000 set by organisers of the protest vote.

Michigan routinely offers an “uncommitted” option as a way of questioning whether a named candidate has the support of the party’s base.

Former US President Donald Trump meanwhile won the Republican presidential primary in the state by a large margin, according to projections, further strengthening his grip on the party’s White House nomination as Nikki Haley, his last remaining rival, came in a distant second.

With 8 percent of the estimated Republican vote counted, Trump had 64 percent support to Haley’s 32 percent, according to Edison Research.

Michigan is expected to play a decisive role in the head-to-head November 5 US presidential election, a likely rematch between Biden and Trump.

It is a battleground state that could swing toward either party.

Biden beat Trump in Michigan by just 2.8 percentage points in the 2020 election.

More soon…