DEARBORN, United States — In key US swing state Michigan, Democratic voters of Arab and Middle Eastern heritage say Kamala Harris is going to have to win them back, after they were alienated by President Joe Biden’s handling of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

The town of Dearborn, home to 110,000 people and a cultural hub for Arab Americans, could play a decisive role in deciding the fate of the battleground state in November’s presidential election.

Members of the community interviewed by AFP said they were willing to hear what the vice president had to say and weigh their options — a marked change from the outright hostility towards Biden.

READ: Kamala Harris moves to boost support while Arab American leaders listen

“We are in listening mode right now,” said Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News.

Accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at the party’s convention on Thursday, Harris pledged to get a Gaza ceasefire “done” and ensure Palestinians realize their right to “dignity, security, freedom and self- determination.”

But there was outrage among pro-Palestinian delegates that their request for a speaker spot at the convention was rejected. The group Muslim Women for Harris-Walz said the decision sent a “terrible message” and announced it was disbanding and withdrawing its support from the campaign.

READ: Kamala Harris picks Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as running mate

Harris, who has vowed “not to be silent” about the suffering of Palestinians, recently met with members of the national “Uncommitted” movement that led the charge against Biden during the Democratic primary process.

Although she made no firm promises, leaders said she impressed them with a show of empathy.

At the forefront of concerns are Israel’s 10 months of military operations in Gaza, which have devastated the Palestinian enclave since the war began in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

– Growing influence –
Michigan, home to the “big three” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler — has long been an essential stop for White House aspirants.

Economic downturns in the 1970s led many to leave the so-called “Rust Belt” state, just as unrest in the Middle East brought new waves of Lebanese, Iraqi, Yemeni, and Palestinian immigrants.

“We’re a global city, where nearly 55 percent of our residents are of Arab background,” said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud in a recent interview. “For many of us, when you talk about what’s happening in Gaza, these are our family and our friends.”

Famous as the birthplace of Henry Ford, Dearborn appears at first glance just like any small US city, with its wide thoroughfares and strip malls.

But it is also home to the Islamic Center of America — the largest mosque in the country — and countless Middle Eastern supermarkets, eateries, and coffee shops.

When Siblani first started his newspaper in the mid-1980s, he remembers the then-mayor campaigned on a platform to address the “Arab problem.”

But as the community’s numbers grew, and the children of blue-collar factory workers took up positions as lawyers, doctors, and businesspeople, so too did their political influence.

‘Lesser of two evils’

Historically socially conservative, Arab and Muslim Americans heavily favored George W. Bush in the 2000 election.

Years of the US “War on Terror” — which saw wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and Muslim American communities put under stricter law enforcement scrutiny — swung them firmly to the Democratic camp.

In 2018, southeast Michiganders elected Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American in Congress — a milestone for the community.

Three Arab-American mayors have also recently been elected in suburbs known for historic racism towards non-whites.

Angered by former president Donald Trump’s travel ban on Muslim countries, support for Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and more, Dearborn voters overwhelmingly backed Biden in 2020, helping secure Michigan for the Democrats by a slim margin.

Residents here are tired, however, of being asked to vote for the “lesser of two evils” and instead want candidates who will deliver on demands, such as a permanent ceasefire and an end to the supply of weapons to Israel.

“I think VP Harris has a window of opportunity,” said Faye Nemer, a community activist and CEO of the MENA American Chamber of Commerce. “She can either continue President Biden’s legacy or set her own agenda.”

Arab Americans in Dearborn have been impressed by Harris’s pick of Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz has taken a conciliatory approach to opponents of the war, unlike Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who took a hard line against college protesters.

But demands are hardening.

“We don’t want crumbs anymore,” declared Soujoud Hamade, a business lawyer and long-time Democrat, who vowed to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein if Harris did not deliver on the campaign trail.

Flint — Michigan Republican Party delegates declined on Saturday to re-nominate two incumbent university board members for their positions, including Ron Weiser, a former state GOP chairman and longtime donor to the party.

At an occasionally raucous convention that lasted about 12 hours inside Flint’s Dort Financial Center, hundreds of Republicans selected Carl Meyers, a former state party treasurer, and Sevag Vartanian, a businessman who ran in 2022, to appear on the ballot in November as the GOP candidates for two seats on the University of Michigan Board of Regents.

Meyers and Vartanian got more votes than Weiser, an Ann Arbor businessman, who currently holds a seat on the UM board, according to results released by the Michigan Republican Party at about 10 p.m. Saturday night.

More: Former Michigan GOP chairwoman escorted out of party convention by police

Weiser was the chairman of the Michigan Republican Party during the 2022 election cycle, in which Democrats won control of the state Legislature for the first time in four decades. While he’s been a Republican mega-donor, he’s been criticized by grassroots activists within the party and was booed at a convention in August 2022.

Like Weiser, the GOP delegates chose not re-nominate Dan Kelly for a position on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees. Kelly, an attorney in Auburn Hills, is the board’s current chairman, according to the university’s website. The MSU board has faced a string of controversies and infighting in recent years.

Instead of Kelly, Republican delegates nominated Mike Balow, who was a candidate in 2022, and Julie Maday, a former Novi City Council member, to appear on the November ballot.

More: Ilitch, Diggs edge out pro-Palestine challenger for Democratic nomination for UM regent

Saturday’s convention saw former Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Kristina Karamo escorted out of the arena by police and some in the crowd boo current Chairman Pete Hoekstra, as infighting over the party’s leadership continued to divide delegates.

“Congratulations to all our candidates and newly elected nominees from today’s Convention,” Hoekstra said. “The most important takeaway from today is that the Michigan Republican Party is strong, unified and focused on one singular goal — flipping Michigan red this November.”

Todd Gillman, a Republican Party delegate from Lenawee County, said he actually thought the feuding at Saturday’s convention was going to be worse than it was.

“Every time that they try to disrupt, they get less and less people,” Gillman said of a faction that’s backing Karamo, who was removed as chairwoman in January.

On Saturday, Republican delegates also nominated state Rep. Andrew Fink of Hillsdale and Branch County Circuit Judge Patrick William O’Grady for two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court that are on the ballot this fall.

Democrats currently hold a 4-3 majority on the state’s high court.

Fink won his nomination over Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra, who had been endorsed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and former Supreme Court candidate Matt DePerno.

This fall, Fink will run against Democratic-nominated Kimberly Ann Thomas, a law professor at the University of Michigan. The winner will get a full eight-year term on the court, left up for grabs because of the impending retirement of GOP-nominated Justice David Viviano.

O’Grady defeated lawyer Alexandria Taylor of Romulus, who had the backing of Karamo. In November, O’Grady will face incumbent Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, an appointee of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“I really want to urge everyone to come together on one accord with a spirit of forgiveness,” Taylor said on Saturday, as votes were being cast inside the hockey arena in Flint.

Delegates renominated incumbent State Board of Education members Tom McMillin and Nikki Snyder. And they nominated Michael Busuito, an incumbent, and Sunny Reddy for seats on the Wayne State University Board of Governors.

cmauger@detroitnews.com