A crucial Democratic voting bloc in Michigan is leading the charge for a protest vote in Tuesday’s primary election against President Joe Biden for his support of Israel in its war against Hamas.
Listen to Michigan, which describes itself as a multiracial and multifaith anti-war campaign, is spearheading the “Vote Uncommitted” effort, which encourages voters to show up to the polls and check off “uncommitted” on the ballot instead of Biden.
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Michigan is home to the country’s second-largest Middle Eastern and North African population, according to US census data, with Wayne County having the highest percentage in any US county. Wayne County is home to the cities of Detroit and Dearborn, where much of the “Vote Uncommitted” effort is taking place.
“In recent months, a critical question has plagued residents of Michigan: how to make our voices heard when President Biden officials ignore our pleas. This sentiment is deeply felt in the Detroit and Dearborn area, where the community is acutely aware of the devastation in Gaza – a crisis we feel intimately connected to, as it impacts our friends, families, and broader communities,” according to Listen to Michigan’s website.
“Michigan voters are sending Biden a clear message in the February 27 Democratic primary that he can count us out. We are filling out the UNCOMMITTED bubble because we strongly reject Biden’s funding war and genocide in Gaza,” according to the website. “Uncommitted Michigan Democrats opposed to Biden’s policy in Gaza can demonstrate that we hold his margin of victory for re-election.”
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FTX Group CEO John J. Ray III listens while U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) speaks, at a U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing investigating the collapse of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX after the arrest of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. (credit: SARAH SILBIGER/REUTERS)
Biden must earn their votes through a dramatic policy change, according to the website.
“President Biden has been a successful candidate in the past by representing a broad coalition, but right now he’s not representing the vast majority of Democrats who want a ceasefire and an end to his funding of Israel’s war in Gaza. He’s not representing the young people who put him in office and turned out in the midterms — and are now out protesting his policies in the streets,” the website said.
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Family ties in Michigan’s political scape
Listen To Michigan’s campaign manager, Layla Elabed, is Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s sister.
Tlaib (D-MI) represents part of Dearborn and the majority of Dearborn Heights. Tlaib is the only Palestinian-American member of Congress and a leading voice in the ceasefire movement. Both Tlaib and Elabed did not return The Post’s request for comment.
Tlaib encouraged Michiganders to vote uncommitted in a video posted on Listen to Michigan’s Instagram.
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“It is important as you all know, to not only march against the genocide, not only make sure that we’re calling our members of Congress and local elected officals and passing city resolutions all throughout our country, it’s also important to create a voting bloc, something that has a bullhorn to say, enough is enough,” Tlaib said in the video. “We don’t want a country that supports bombs and destruction. We want to support life. We want to stand up for every single life killed in Gaza.”
“I want you to think of all of the amazing young children and the people whose lives were lost, and this is the way you can raise our voices don’t make us even more invisible. Right now we feel completely neglected, neglected and just unseen by our government,” Tlaib said. “If you want us to be louder, then come here and vote uncommitted.”
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Listen to Michigan and supporting organizations are driving their message on social media and through phone banking.
Dearborn’s Mayor, Abdullah H. Hammoud, published an op-ed in the New York Times on Tuesday explaining why he’s voting uncommitted.
“I, like many of my fellow Americans, cannot in good conscience support the continuation of a genocide. This has weighed heavy on my heart, particularly as the presidential primary election in Michigan has drawn near. It is for that reason that I will be checking the box for “uncommitted” on my presidential primary ballot next Tuesday. In doing so, I am choosing hope,” Hammoud wrote.
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However, Jewish Democrats expressed confidence in Michigan’s Arab voters showing up to the polls in November in support of Biden regardless of how they vote in the primary, banking on the shared threat of another Trump presidency as the driving factor.
The Post spoke to a Biden campaign official in Michigan who declined to provide a comment on the matter.
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Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer told The Post that voting “uncommitted” is playing with fire.
JDCA endorsed Biden early on in the campaign and is leading efforts to galvanize Jewish Democratic support for him.
Soifer adamantly said that any effort to deflect or divert Democratic support for Biden is effectively electing Trump. Those who want Biden to win in November should absolutely support him in the primary, she said.
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With Rashida Tlaib leading this effort, it’s almost guaranteed that Jewish voters in Michigan will not be listening, Soifer said.
“Jewish voters are overwhelmingly not just supportive of Joe Biden, but very happy with his strong support of Israel in the aftermath of Oct. 7. His approval of the way he’s handling this war transcends partisan divides,” Soifer said “Not only will Jewish voters, whether they be in Michigan, or frankly any other state, be strongly supportive of Joe Biden in their primary, but they will also support him in the general.”
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“We’ve seen it happen in 2016 in Michigan and we don’t want to see it happen again,” Soifer said, referencing Bernie Sanders who won the primary. Trump won Michigan in 2016 by just over 10,000 votes, Soifer said, which was due to turnout. Biden won Michigan in 2020 by over 150,000 votes.
Soifer described Trump as a threat to the shared values, security and freedoms of the Jewish and Arab communities in Michigan
While Soifer thinks the “Vote Uncommitted” movement isn’t going to gain much traction, she said the aftermath of the movement is dangerous for Democrats.
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“For those who have voted uncommitted as perhaps a protest vote, what will they do in the general? Are they going to do it again in the general?” Soifer said. “Because as I said, either a non-vote, or a vote for a third party candidate or position, in this case, is a vote for Donald Trump. And we’ve seen it happen before in Michigan.”
Soifer said Democrats can bring protest voters back to support Biden in November by talking about shared policy priorities and shared threats emanating from MAGA extremism.
Paula Wethington is a digital producer at CBS Detroit. She previously held digital content roles at NEWSnet, Gannett/USA Today network and The Monroe News in Michigan. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina.
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A pedestrian was struck and died of her injuries early Friday on the Lodge Freeway in Detroit.
Emergency dispatchers started to get calls about 2:30 a.m. about someone who was walking along the Lodge, and then were notified that the person had been struck by a vehicle, the Michigan State Police reported.
When troopers arrived, they found multiple cars stopped along the freeway, and people standing around a woman who was severely injured.
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Detroit EMS pronounced the woman dead at the scene, state police said. She has not yet been identified.
The driver who struck the woman did not stay at the scene.
“Troopers are currently using technology that is available in the area to identify the vehicle involved,” MSP F/Lt. Mike Shaw said.
The Lodge Freeway, also known as M-10, was closed at about 2:46 a.m. Friday between Chicago Boulevard / Hamilton Avenue and Clairmount Street for the investigation and emergency assistance, according to Michigan Department of Transportation reports. The Lodge was reported back open at 6:05 a.m.
Michigan Department of Transportation traffic reports are at the MI Drive site.
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State police said their investigation is continuing. Those who witnessed the crash or have other information are asked to call the MSP Metro South Post at 734-287-5000 or Crime Stoppers of Michigan at 800-SPEAK-UP.
Bryce Underwood talks Michigan football during spring practice
Bryce Underwood talks Michigan football during spring practice at Schembechler Hall in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, March 25, 2026.
The buzzword continued to come up in Schembechler Hall, from each one of the captains.
From Bryce Underwood to Jordan Marshall, Rod Moore to Trey Pierce − Michigan football players around for the previous regime and in the case of the latter two, the one before that too − each said Wednesday, March 25, that there’s a noticeable difference within the program under new coach Kyle Whittingham.
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For Moore, a sixth-year player who will likely become a third-time captain when the official leaders are voted on later this summer, he recognized the vibe.
SCHEME DREAM: Michigan football tailoring offense to strength behind Bryce Underwood
“I would say it’s kind of a similarity to coach Harbaugh’s regimen,” he said. “It’s a lot more strict than the past two years, and the weight room has kind of been a night-and-day difference than the past two years. We feel a lot stronger, a lot more progress.”
The Wolverines finished winter conditioning and Whittingham graded it with an “A+.” Hope is often the dominant mode at this time of year and adding a new coaching staff to what’s generally a positive time creates little surprise that the Wolverines are raving about the new system.
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But beyond the platitudes and clichés, there are tangible examples. Take Pierce: The projected starting defensive tackle has trimmed his weight to 300 pounds while adding muscle mass to his overall frame.
“Something new that we have now is that whenever we start meetings, there’s like a loud air horn that goes off throughout the whole building,” Moore said. “The past two years, we would start the meeting at 2:30, but now we start the meeting at 2:25, even though it’s a 2:30 meeting. Just everyone being five minutes early. The coaches are holding everyone accountable in the meetings, going to class.
“Just the little things that makes a team great, not just the big, broad things that everyone sees.”
There was an implication from everyone, though nothing said explicitly, that the past two seasons featured little enforcement. Most players would show up on time for lifts, but there were those who didn’t, with few repercussions.
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“It’s the little things,” Pierce said. “Guys being late for lifts, guys not being where they’re supposed to be, whether it’s [missing] class. Just enforcing that a little bit heavier, that type of thing. … A lot of coaches say that when you’re being recruited in front of your parents. But for [Whittingham] to say that in front of the huddle after practice and say, ‘That’s why I’m here,’ I would say, ‘OK, he cares. He gets it.’”
Throughout the offseason, some who’ve spent time inside the facility said the weightlifting sessions had notably more juice. The past two years felt like a carryover of the previous years in terms of style, but accountability and discipline wavered.
Now, with Doug Elisaia leading the strength and conditioning room, there are different philosophies.
RAINIER SABIN: Kyle Whittingham is dreaming big for Michigan football; it’s doable
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Practices are a bit shorter these days – two hours – but as Marshall said, “I don’t stop moving at practice, like, we’re always doing something that’s not only going to help with us competing with teams, but our conditioning.”
Marshall believes it can take the Wolverines to the next level, he said.
Just more than a week into spring ball, players are oozing confidence. Not just in their skills − the running back room is deep, the wide receiver room has as much raw talent as at any point the past decade, the offensive line returned multiple key pieces, the secondary added depth and the defensive tackles feel underrated − but in mindset.
U-M had early, demanding lifting sessions during winter conditioning, with a clear organization.
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“It introduces that factor of toughness, like we’ve been through this at 6:30 a.m., 6:15 a.m., all these days in the grind together,” Pierce said. “It improves team bonding, and puts you in the headspace of, we’ve done harder stuff than this, and nothing can break us.”
The difference between winning and losing can often be razor-thin. Will this pay off when it counts during the season?
“If I can trust you to do things maybe you don’t want to do,” Marshall said, “then I can trust you on the field when it’s the fourth quarter and we have one minute left.”
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
