Walz to attend ‘Million Muslim Votes’ summit

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, 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 American supporters disenchanted with her party’s ongoing support for Israel.

“In a groundbreaking moment, Vice Presidential Candidate and Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, will address Emgage Action’s ‘Million Muslim Votes: A Way Forward’ summit on Thursday, October 3,” Emgage Action wrote in a release. 

Emgage Action retracted a previous version of the release that included incorrect information. 

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 Joe Biden spoke at the same Emgage Action 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 Action 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.  

Emgage Action has endorsed Harris in the 2024 presidential election. 

According to Emgage Action organizers, Walz committed to appearing at the event Wednesday — the same day the Arab American Institute released a poll showing former President Trump ahead of Harris by 4 points among likely Arab American voters. Historically, Democrats have enjoyed a 2-to-1 margin in support among Arab and Muslim American voters. 

Arab and Muslim American 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 with 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 American 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 Action 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 Hamade, 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.” 

Hamade plans to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

A recent poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations found that close to 1 in 3 Arab American voters polled plan on voting for Stein. The Arab American Institute poll found that closer to 1 in 10 Arab American voters polled plan on voting for a third-party candidate. 

Alex Gangitano contributed to this report.

This story was updated at 5:44 p.m.