Pittsburgh group backs ‘uncommitted’ write-in campaign to protest President Joe Biden

A new statewide effort to get Pennsylvania Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in protest of President Joe Biden has garnered support from the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, a left-wing political group.

The group voted Wednesday evening to support the Uncommitted PA campaign, which is encouraging Democratic voters in the April 23 primary to write in “uncommitted” for president to pressure Biden into calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Uncommitted PA is hoping to get more than 40,000 uncommitted write-in votes. The campaign said it wants to send a signal that the Biden administration is losing the voters they need to win the November election. Pennsylvania joins several other state campaigns, such as Michigan, that have been using the uncommitted voting option to pressure Biden.

Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary ballots have yet to be finalized, but only two candidates have qualified for the ballot: Biden and U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who suspended his campaign earlier this month.

Unlike uncommitted campaigns in other states, Pennsylvania’s campaign is a write-in effort. There is no uncommitted option on the primary ballot.

Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America said Pennsylvania is a key swing state and noted Biden won by just 80,000 votes out of nearly 7 million in 2020.

The group backs the campaign’s demands of an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the siege of Gaza, the reinstatement of humanitarian aid and funding to United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, and the end of U.S. aid to Israel.

Tonight we voted to endorse the @uncommitted_pa campaign to tell President Biden Pennsylvania stands against genocide, by writing in “Uncommitted” for President in the April 23rd Primary.

Help us spread the word by signing up at https://t.co/gpLsTVvDne!

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— Pittsburgh DSA (@pghDSA) March 28, 2024

This week, the Palestinian death toll eclipsed 31,000 from Israeli attacks on Gaza and more than 70,000 have been wounded, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.

The Middle Eastern war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 men, women and children hostage. After a round of exchanges for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel in November, around 130 remain captive, a fourth of them believed to be dead.

“This is Pennsylvania’s mandate to Joe Biden to drastically change his administration’s course of action in Gaza or be at risk of losing a deciding number of voters,” posted the group on the X social platform. “We are sending a generous warning to Biden: if he wants to win, he must stop the genocide.”

Biden has increased humanitarian aid to Gaza in recent weeks, including announcing the use of an emergency floating pier to help feed aid to Palestinians. In his State of the Union address on March 7, Biden said “to the leadership of Israel, I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.”

The Biden administration has said a temporary ceasefire is on the table, but Hamas has not agreed. On Monday, the U.S. allowed a ceasefire resolution to pass the United Nations Security Council, after vetoing the measure several times over the previous months.

In response to the Uncommitted PA campaign, state Democratic Party Chairman and state Sen. Sharif Street of Philadelphia said the biggest choice in front of voters is the general election between Biden and Trump. Street, a Muslim-American, said he knows Biden will have his back and supports his community.

“This is the choice we face at the ballot box this November,” he said. “With the stakes this high, I am proud to be supporting President Biden.”

The Uncommitted PA campaign did not respond to requests for an interview.

National uncommitted organizers told The Guardian last week that their votes should not be construed as purely anti-Biden or in favor of former President Donald Trump. Organizers said the effort is a humanitarian vote, looking to save as many lives as possible by ending a war.

Uncommitted campaign efforts have been mixed in other states. On March 5, four of five states with uncommitted options on their ballots got a lower percentage of the vote than 12 years ago, according to the Washington Post. Twelve years ago, when President Barack Obama ran for reelection, was the last time a Democratic primary was largely uncompetitive.

In Minnesota, uncommitted received 19% of the Democratic primary ballot, the highest percentage of any state so far.

Local pro-Palestinian advocates have also seen mixed success in their Pittsburgh-area endeavors.

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, remains one of the louder voices in Congress calling for a ceasefire, return of Israeli hostages, and criticizing Israel’s military.

But earlier this month, a ceasefire resolution was voted down by Allegheny County Council, after organizers, including the Democratic Socialists, urged council to support the resolution.

Pennsylvania is home to about 300,000 Jewish voters, with high concentrations in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia area, according to the Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. More than 2% of the state’s electorate is Jewish, which is the second highest among swing states, behind Florida.

Rebecca Elhassid, 39, of Squirrel Hill has been organizing Jewish voters for the upcoming primary, including ensuring Jews are accommodated for Election Day, which falls on the first day of Passover this year.

She said she doesn’t support the uncommitted write-in campaign. She called the campaign a nod to an extreme wing of the Democratic Party.

“I support Joe Biden,” she said. “I think it is more of a demonstration than anything.”