U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who dropped her presidential bid Thursday, had a significant presence in Michigan before any of the Democratic candidates.

Her departure could have an outsize impact on Tuesday's presidential primary in Michigan.

After Super Tuesday, where Warren didn't win a single state, there were increasing calls for her to drop out of the race in order to consolidate the left wing of the party in the same way that moderate Democrats were withdrawing and throwing their support behind former Vice President Joe Biden.

And while Warren's plans have been more aligned with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders than the more moderate wing of the Democratic Party, it's not a given that her supporters will migrate to Sanders' campaign, said Warren supporter Mark Brewer, the former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

More:As Michigan prepares for its primary, Elizabeth Warren comes to Detroit to court voters

More:Michigan primary election 2020: Yes, you can change your vote on absentee ballots

"That's a mistaken assumption," he said. "They will not all go to Sanders."

Greg Bowens, a Detroit political consultant, also said her supporters may not flock to Sanders.

"The question becomes whether or not people want to achieve two things: Get (President) Trump out of office and get back to some sense of normalcy," he said. "And Elizabeth Warren has said that Bernie told her a woman can never be president, so that still casts some doubt on Bernie."

Warren made a big play in Michigan. She opened an office in southwest Detroit in December, earlier than any other candidate. She hired campaign staffers across the state and returned to Michigan several times in the past year, included a rollicking rally in Detroit on Tuesday that attracted more than 2,000 supporters.

But the ending of her candidacy dashed the hopes of followers who had hoped she could be the one to break through and become the first female president of the United States.

"We have a continuing problem with sexism and women running for office who are expected to be perfect. There have been a lot of imperfect men, who have run imperfect campaigns and still won," Brewer said.

He said he had hoped that the 2018 elections, when women were elected to all the top state offices, were a harbinger of what could happen in 2020.

"We elected women across the board to the top offices of the state ," Brewer said. "It’s absurd, it’s wrong and I hoped it would change in the presidential race, but not this year."

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, said she was incredibly disappointed when Warren dropped out and doesn't plan to change the absentee ballot she already cast for Warren. She has no plans to endorse another candidate.

"I'm just looking at the fact that the likely two remaining people in the race are two white men who are nearly 80 years old," she said, adding that she’ll be working for candidates further down the ballot instead of volunteering for the presidential race.

Despite those loyal supporters, Warren never broke through in polls done in Michigan before the March 10 presidential primary. She finished fourth behind Biden, Sanders and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg in a poll done by the Detroit News this week, and in general election polls in Michigan, she beat Trump by only two percentage points, while other Democratic candidates had a bigger edge.

After Tuesday's rally in Detroit, which occurred as Super Tuesday results started trickling in and showing that she would not have a good evening, Warren told the crowd to forget about pundits and pollsters and strategic voting.

"Cast a vote that will make you proud. Vote from your heart. And vote for the person who you think will make the best president of the United States," she said.

Before the rally was over, another town hall at Lansing Community College on Friday was announced.

By Thursday, that event was canceled.

Michigan voters who cast their absentee ballot for Warren, or any other candidate who has dropped out of the race, have until 4 p.m. Monday to go to their local clerk's office, sign a request to spoil their ballot and cast a new vote for a candidate still in the race. As of Thursday morning, 15,902 voters had spoiled their absentee ballots. And that number was tallied before Warren dropped out of the race.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.