Here we go again with the Michigan primary
Joe Biden has predictably won Mississippi and Missouri in blowout fashion tonight, meaning he’ll pick up the majority of the delegates that end up being awarded today, no matter what happens in the other states. But we all knew the media and the public would place more focus on Michigan, so here we go again.
Four years ago the polls had Hillary Clinton up by more than twenty points over Bernie Sanders in Michigan. But in one of the biggest polling failures in memory, Sanders narrowly won the state. This appeared to be primarily due to pro-Trump Republicans taking advantage of the open primary format and casting spoiler votes for Sanders. In any case, the 2020 polls show Joe Biden up by more than twenty points in Michigan, but we’ve all been wondering if it’s going to be deja vu.
Thanks to Michigan being in two different time zones, vote totals are already starting to be reported from some precincts, even though voting hasn’t concluded in other precincts. Make of that what you will. But MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki has highlighted a number of counties where Biden is outperforming Hillary Clinton’s 2016 numbers. If these counties prove to be the rule and not the exception, Biden will win Michigan. But plenty of votes remain to be counted.
