Could Kamala Harris Lose Due to Muslim Voters in Michigan?
Published Oct 27, 2024 at 5:00 AM EDT
Updated Oct 27, 2024 at 8:05 AM EDT
By Peter Aitken
Politics Weekend Editor
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, appears to be
facing significant opposition from Muslim voters as she continues facing a
toss-up race in Michigan in the weeks leading up to this year's
presidential election.
Michigan is the swing state with the largest concentration of Muslim
voters, a group that overwhelmingly backed Democrats in recent
presidential races. However, large swaths of those voters have been
alienated by the Biden-Harris administration's handling of the
humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which comes amid a wider conflict between
Israel and Hamas.
President Joe Biden's administration has stood firmly with Israel since
Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, attacked Israel last year on October 7
killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 others hostage. At least 42,000
Palestinians have been killed in the war that followed, the Associated
Press reported, citing the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, Harris' show
of support for Palestinian statehood received one of her biggest
applauses at the convention. However, during her speech, she affirmed
her commitment to Israel's security while also addressing the human cost
of the conflict.
"President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is
secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the
Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and
self-determination," she said.
"The VP has made several public statements sharing her perspective and
position on the war in Gaza since becoming the nominee," the Harris
campaign wrote in a statement via email to Newsweek. "The campaign is
engaging with the Muslim and Arab American community on the ground,
meeting them where they are."
Harris' campaign also mentioned a list of various endorsements from
major Muslim voter groups and officials, which included Representative
Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, Minnesota Attorney General Keith
Ellison, Michigan Arab American activist Ismael Ahmed and U.S. Senator
George Helmy, a New Jersey Democrat.
Harris also received backing from Emgage Action—a group that "educates
and mobilizes Muslim American voters"—the Black Muslim Leadership
Council and Lebanese Americans for Harris, among others.
Latest polling across battleground states—which includes Michigan within
a margin of error, is finding Harris leading former President Donald Trump,
the GOP nominee, by around 3 points in Michigan (49 to 46 percent),
according to the latest Quinnipiac and Bloomberg/Morning Consult polls,
and only 2 points (49 to 47 percent), according to the latest Washington
Post-Schar School poll of likely voters.
Major poll aggregators Nate Silver's Silver Bulletin, ABC News'
FiveThirtyEight and RealClear Politics have even tighter averages, with 0.8
percent, 0.7 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
Each candidate has a troubled past when it comes to the country's Muslim
population. The Democrats have lost standing and support after backing
Israel while Trump enacted a travel ban on seven Arab, Muslim-dominant
countries almost immediately after taking office in 2017.
Meanwhile, the dissatisfaction among Muslim voters in Michigan due to
the way Biden and Harris have handled Gaza led to a significant
"Uncommitted" protest vote during the Democratic primary.
Biden lost outright to "Uncommitted" in Dearborn, the first U.S. city with
an Arab majority population and home to the largest mosque in North
America.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud's office told Newsweek that it did not
have "a comment or insight to provide at this time" when it was
contacted.
The group "Abandon Harris"—an extension of the Civil Rights Alliance of
America—cited the administration's "policy of death in Gaza" as one of its
driving motivations to "punish Harris." The group endorsed Green Party
candidate Jill Stein for president instead.
The Harris campaign noted to Newsweek that Harris has "called out the
humanitarian crisis in Gaza" and urged Israel to "follow humanitarian law,"
and that the Biden-Harris administration has provided temporary
protected status and work authorizations for thousands of eligible
Lebanese nationals.
However, Trump has made some surprising headway thanks to a major
endorsement from Mayor Amer Ghalib from Hamtramck, Michigan—the
only city in the U.S., with an all-Muslim government and the first Muslim-
majority population in the country.
Ghalib, a Democrat, posted on Facebook that "it's looking good" for
Trump as he announced his "support and endorsement for the former, and
hopefully, the next president of the United States."
Ghalib's office did not respond to a request for comment by Newsweek via
email by the time of publication.
At the same time, Harris has received endorsements from three
Hamtramck City Councilmen: Mohammed Alsomiri, Mohammed Hassan
and Muhith Mahmood—all of whom have said the Trump campaign
reached out to them several times over the past few months hoping to
gain their endorsement, according to The Detroit News.
According to the 2020 U.S. national census, around 4.5 million American
citizens identify as Muslim, of which around a quarter of a million live in
Michigan.
Michigan in the 2016 presidential election went for Trump by a margin of
just under 11,000 votes, while Biden won the state in 2020 by around
154,000 votes.
Michigan is one of the "Blue Wall" states that famously voted for the
Democrats over a 30-year period until Trump seemed to smash it in 2016,
winning Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Biden restored that support in 2020, and political analysts view these
states once more as the clearest path to victory for Harris. Failure to win
these states would make it incredibly difficult for Harris to win the
election.
The Harris campaign continues to pile six-figure investment into digital
outreach, including WhatsApp channels for Muslim and Arab American
voters to share campaign messages and targeted ads to reach those same
voters online.
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