Layla Elabed isn’t ready to think about November.
In 2020, the Palestinian American activist and longtime Michigan Democrat backed Joe Biden for president. But like many Arab Americans, she feels betrayed by his response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the rising civilian death toll. Biden would need to curtail US military aid to Israel and call for a permanent ceasefire before she could even consider supporting him in November, she said.
And as for Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Michigan, she’s leading the charge to convince Democrats to vote “uncommitted.”
The Listen to Michigan campaign was launched less than three weeks ago by Elabed and other Arab American activists in the Wolverine State. It’s a last-minute effort to send a “clear, sharp message” to Biden, his administration and the Democratic Party to address the concerns of the coalition that helped him win in 2020, said Elabed, the effort’s campaign manager and the sister of Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman in Congress.
“This is not an anti-Biden campaign,” Elabed said. “It’s a humanitarian vote. It’s a protest vote. It is a vote that tells Biden and his administration that we believe in saving lives.”
Since its launch, the effort has been endorsed by progressive groups such as Our Revolution and more than three dozen current and former state and local leaders, including Tlaib and former US Rep. Andy Levin. Volunteers have contacted more than 100,000 voters in the state, according to organizers.
Organizers say they hope at least 10,000 people will vote uncommitted in the Democratic primary, a nod to the 10,700-vote margin that delivered the state to Donald Trump in 2016. They drew inspiration from the state’s 2008 Democratic primary, when…
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