Michigan primary puts major battleground state in play for 2024

Michigan voters hit the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the state-run primary, with both Republicans and Democrats making their pick for their party’s 2024 nominee. 

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. Most of the state runs on Eastern Standard Time, but four counties in the Upper Peninsula observe Central Time.

Democrat primary voters can choose from President Biden and his challengers, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and author Marianne Williamson. Those voters will also have the option to cast an “uncommitted” vote.

Meanwhile, Republican voters on Tuesday will have their choice from former President Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the only two GOP candidates left in the race, and others who have since dropped out, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. There are 16 delegates at stake.

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President Biden speaks during the reproductive freedom campaign rally at George Mason University in Manassas, Virginia, on Jan. 23, 2024. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Michigan’s Democrat-controlled legislature set the state’s primary date earlier than usual this year to comply with the wishes of the Democratic National Committee. But shifting the date for the Democrats pushed the Republicans out of compliance with the Republican National Committee (RNC). 

To avoid a penalty from the RNC, Michigan Republicans came up with a split-primary system, with voters casting ballots on Tuesday and on March 2.

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On Saturday, the Michigan GOP will hold a party-run convention in Detroit. The winner of that contest could receive up to 39 delegates, although they will be distributed by district. There are 13 total districts and three delegates per district. 

Former President Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, acknowledges supporters during an election night watch party on Feb. 24, 2024, in Columbia, South Carolina. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

During that contest, voters only have the choice between Trump and Haley.

Michigan has a total of 55 pledged delegates.

Trump previously dominated the Iowa Caucuses, left New Hampshire with a commanding victory, swept the caucuses in Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and then won South Carolina with a “bigger win” than he anticipated, he said.

“I’m very honored by the elections,” he told Fox News Digital during an exclusive interview after his South Carolina victory on Saturday. “We’re setting records in every single state.”

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks during her primary election night gathering on Feb. 24, 2024, in Charleston, South Carolina. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Trump on Saturday looked ahead to Michigan and predicted a victory because “the autoworkers are going to be with us 100% because they got sold out by this country.” 

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Haley, despite losing another contest — this time in her home state of South Carolina — vowed to stay in the race.

Michigan’s government is under full control by the Democrats.

Republicans dominated in Michigan elections from 1972 through 1988. But the state became part of a so-called “blue wall” that backed Democrat nominees in six straight presidential elections from 1972 through 2012.

Trump changed the equation in 2016, and his narrow flipping of the state helped him win the White House over Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton.

But President Biden captured Michigan by nearly three points in the 2020 election as he brought Michigan back into the Democrats’ column and denied Trump reelection.

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Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and the Associated Press contributed to this report.