Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) will attend a Muslim American advocacy group's summit on Thursday in an effort to turn out voters as Vice President Harris works to win back Arab and Muslim supporters disenchanted with her party's ongoing support for Israel.
“Governor Walz’s participation underscores the significance of Muslim voters as over two million are expected to turn out in the 2024 election. This event marks the first time a Democratic Vice Presidential candidate will directly engage with the Muslim American community on this scale ahead of a critical election,” Emgage Action, the largest Muslim super PAC, wrote in a statement.
Walz will be joined by former House Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) at the Million Muslim Votes Summit. Harris's campaign also confirmed that Walz will be attending.
Then-candidate President Joe Biden spoke at the same Emgage event in 2020 — the first time a Democratic candidate had addressed the group at the event. Biden’s speech at the time also marked his first time engaging with Muslim Americans specifically, and during that speech, he committed to reversing former President Trump’s Muslim ban.
According to Emgage organizers, Walz and other Democrats will present their party’s policies and hear from some Muslim Americans involved with Emgage. There will not be an interactive portion with voters tuning into the event.
However, Emgage and Walz are expected to announce a town hall in the coming weeks, at which Walz and other Democratic party leaders will hear from Muslim voters.
Emgage has endorsed Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
According to Emgage organizers, Walz committed to appearing at the event on Wednesday — the same day the American Arab Institute released a poll showing former President Trump is ahead of Harris by four points among likely Arab voters. Historically, Democrats have enjoyed a two-to-one margin of support among Arab and Muslim voters.
Arab and Muslim voters are critical to the coalition Harris needs to build in Michigan, with polls showing a neck-and-neck race between her and Trump in the state. The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling index shows Harris has a razor-thin lead over Trump in the battleground state, bringing in 48.4 percent support to Trump’s 47.9 percent.
According to Jim Zogby, the director of the Arab American Institute, the state has more than 200,000 Arab and Muslim voters, and their support is critical to Harris's victory.
Israel’s incursions into Lebanon over the last week have also made the electoral math “more complicated” because Lebanese Americans make up the largest chunk of Arab voters in the state, added Levin, who is also speaking at the event.
“They’re like the granddaddies of the Arab American community in Michigan,” Levin said about Lebanese Americans. “They were among the first people to come here, start businesses and work in the auto factories … so it’s become a lot more complex ... they have family members dying now.”
Emgage has also faced criticism from some within Michigan's Arab American community for “not representing” the values of Arab voters.
“There are some that will lie for political motives, like Emgage, that will lie to you and tell you that we support Kamala, but we don't,” Soujoud Hamaje, the president of the Michigan Chapter of the Arab American Bar Association, told The Hill. “If you speak to our community leaders, they will tell you, they will tell you that the majority of us do not support Kamala at all.”
Hamaje plans to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
A recent poll by the Center for American Islamic Relations found that close to one in three Arab voters polled planned on voting for Stein. The Arab American Institute poll found that closer to one in ten Arab voters polled planned on voting third party.
Alex Gangitano contributed to this report.
