Biden, Trump top local ballots; local millages pass | News, Sports, Jobs – mininggazette.com

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette
A voting sign is seen outside Lakeview Manor in Hancock Tuesday. This was the first election with Lakeview as the combined site for Hancock voters; sign-in and voting booths were separated inside by precinct.

HOUGHTON — Tuesday’s presidential primary in Michigan saw Joe Biden and Donald Trump win their party primaries both in the Copper Country and statewide, while all local millages on the ballot passed overwhelmingly.

In the four-county area, Biden led the Democratic field with 80.5% of the vote, narrowly below his 81.1% statewide as of Wednesday afternoon. Biden’s performance locally ranged from 82.7% in Ontonagon County to 79.8% in Baraga — one of only 10 counties in the state where his share of the Democratic vote dipped below 80%. (The main difference there was a 5% vote for Marianne Williamson, two points higher than her state average.)

About 13.2% of voters chose “uncommitted,” which has been the subject of an activist push to protest the Biden administration’s support for Israel during its campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

The campaign for uncommitted had set 10,000 votes as its goal statewide, basing the number on Trump’s margin of victory against Hillary Clinton in the state en route to a presidential win in 2016. Michigan, which Biden won in 2020, is again seen as crucial to his reelection plans.

With more than 98% of the statewide vote tabulated as of Wednesday afternoon, uncommitted had received 101,100 votes, or 13.3%.

Houghton County had the highest percentage of uncommitted voters locally at 13.9%. That was second-highest in the Upper Peninsula, and sixth-highest in the state. At 11.7%, Baraga County was the lowest in the four-county area.

In 2012, the most recent presidential campaign with a Democratic incumbent, 10.7% of Democratic voters were uncommitted. However, that came in a caucus system, rather than a primary. In the 2020 primary between Biden and Bernie Sanders, uncommitted voters made up 1.2% of statewide.

Williamson, who withdrew from the Democratic race earlier this month, got 3.4% of the Copper Country vote. Dean Phillips received 2.9%.

Wednesday, Williamson announced she was unsuspending her campaign.

On the Republican ballot, Trump received 73.8% of votes, several points above his statewide results of 68.2%. Most remaining voters chose Nikki Haley, who finished second with 22.2% (26.6% statewide). Another 2.2% of voters were uncommitted.

Other candidates earned less than 1%: Ron DeSantis (63 votes), Chris Christie (23), Vivek Ramaswamy (20), Ryan Binkley (13) and Asa Hutchinson (6). All had dropped out of the race — most recently Binkley, who made his announcement Tuesday afternoon.

Trump’s 80.6% showing in Baraga County was his highest in the state, beating out Luce County’s 80.2%. His lowest in the four-county area came in Keweenaw County; the 68.8% was Trump’s second-lowest share of the Republican vote in the Upper Peninsula, above only Marquette County’s 66.6%.

Turnout for all races ranged from 24.1% in Houghton County to 30.1% in Keweenaw County.

In local ballot measures:

Stanton Township’s fire millage renewal passed 363-57 (86.4%). The 2 mills funds the operating millage for the departments through 2028.

Laurium’s snow removal millage renewal passed 301-94 (76.2%). Voters approved a 1-mill measure for 2024 through 2029.

Adams Township School District’s operating millage renewal passed 316-136 (70%). The 19.2133-mill millage runs through 2032. The most that can be levied in any year is 18 mills; the extra voted amount covers the portion lost through Headlee rollbacks.

The majority of the votes came in Houghton County; a portion of the district extends into Ontonagon County, whose voters backed the renewal more narrowly at 9-7.

Ontonagon Area Schools’ operating millage renewal passed 781-290 (73%). The 19.0322 mills runs through 2032. As with Adams Township’s millage, the maximum that can be levied is 18 mills.