Arab American community leaders in Michigan who supported Donald Trump in 2024 are reportedly withdrawing their support for the Republican Party during the current Senate race. Former Michigan Representative Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee, is facing Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim physician and former health commissioner. Some community figures cite the ongoing war in Iran and the status of the peace process in Gaza as reasons for their shift in sentiment.
The shift follows a 2024 election cycle where Trump won Dearborn, the only Arab-majority city in the U.S., by six points. Community members including Albert Abbas, who presented a peace prize to Trump in 2024, and Hassan Nehme, a former state GOP vice chair, stated that the administration has not met expectations regarding foreign policy promises. Additionally, Amer Ghalib, the former mayor of Hamtramck whom Trump nominated for an ambassadorship, stated that Republicans are at risk of losing long-term trust in the region.
The campaign has been marked by sharp exchanges regarding identity and foreign policy. Rogers has characterized El-Sayed as an extremist, citing El-Sayed’s associations with influencer Hasan Piker and previous comments regarding an attack on a Michigan synagogue. El-Sayed recently apologized for those comments, stating he "made a mistake." Meanwhile, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) released an ad using El-Sayed’s full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, which some community leaders described as an attempt to alienate Arab American voters.
For the residents of these communities, the political friction translates into a choice between candidates with starkly different approaches to Middle East policy and domestic representation. Voters in cities like Dearborn and Hamtramck may see changes in how national parties court them, moving from the direct outreach seen during Trump’s 2024 visit to the current atmosphere of mutual accusations. A loss of support among Arab Americans could force Republican candidates to seek offsetting gains among other groups, such as the state’s Jewish voters or the Chaldean Christian community, which the Rogers campaign identified as a key ally.
The outcome will set a precedent for how both parties approach minority religious and ethnic communities in future cycles. If the Republican outreach efforts from 2024 fail to hold, it may signal that single-issue alignment on foreign policy is temporary rather than a lasting realignment. Conversely, if Rogers maintains these gains, it could validate a new strategy for GOP outreach in traditional Democratic strongholds. The primary election has concluded, and the candidates are now moving toward the general election, though the specific date for the vote was not reported.