The Michigan delegation at the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19, 2024 | Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom
A group calling itself the People’s Coalition is seeking to gain leadership positions within the Michigan Democratic Party at its spring state convention next month.
The group, which has been using texts, emails and social media to try and recruit Democrats to turnout at the Feb. 22 convention held at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, has billed itself as “a Palestinian-American led, multi-faith, multi-racial movement pushing to make our party one that works on behalf of the people.”
The group has put forward candidates for several positions within the party, including three people seeking leadership roles in the MDP Progressive Caucus: Sadaf Ali, a professor at Eastern Michigan University, running for chair; Tony DiMeglio, described as a “former student activist at Wayne State University and the University Michigan,” running for vice-chair; and Mason Pressler, the youngest person ever elected to the Bay City Public Schools Board of Education, as secretary.
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The group won’t be running anyone for the MDP chair, which is up for grabs following the planned retirement of Lavora Barnes, said Co-Founder Rima Mohammad, a Washtenaw County Democrat who’s a faculty member at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy and an Ann Arbor Public Schools trustee.
The People’s Coalition only came into formal existence at the beginning of January, she said.
“But it was a movement that was building even before that,” Mohammad told the Michigan Advance. “We do have a PAC and we have a website so it is newer, but again the movement has been happening much longer than that.”
Mohammad says the coalition’s roots began with the “Uncommitted” movement, which sought to influence both the Biden administration and the Democratic Party in its policies following the outbreak of the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza by withholding support for Biden in the 2024 Democratic primaries.
While Biden still handily won Michigan’s Democratic primary in February 2024, some members of the Uncommitted movement morphed into an Abandon Biden campaign (and later Abandon Harris when then-Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee). The Abandon Harris effort endorsed Green Party nominee Jill Stein, while other Arab-American leaders ended up supporting President Donald Trump, most notably Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib.
Trump defeated Harris in November and won Michigan.
However, Mohammad insists the People’s Coalition is made up of Democrats, many who have campaigned and fundraised or donated to Democrats.
“We are committed to the party,” she told the Advance, adding that the momentum to create the coalition came from underrepresented groups, including but not limited to the Muslim and Arab-American communities.
“A lot of issues that we are all facing including housing, including immigration, what’s going on right now with ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], especially impacting a lot of immigrant communities, but definitely we’ve seen there has been a lot of movements that have happened over the past year-and-a-half. And I do believe it was because marginalized communities were not being heard,” she said.
Mohammad says the reality is that many people are less engaged politically and remain uncommitted to any party. For Democrats to emerge from the disappointments of 2024’s losses, she said they have to be more inclusive when it comes to decision-making.
“We have to get the right people at the table and especially marginalized and underrepresented groups. So really this coalition is a kind of a continuation of many movements that were happening to build a coalition of the multiracial, multiethnic, multireligious, multigender, coalition of people that are frustrated right now with what’s happening in politics.”
Mohammad is among the People’s Coalition candidates seeking positions at February’s convention, as she is running for the Congressional District 6 Democratic Party vice chair. She says they hope to have a full slate of candidates announced by next week.
The biggest race to be decided on Feb. 22 is for party chair and it’s down to two candidates, former state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr. (D-East Lansing) and community organizer Al “BJ” Williams.
Michigan Democratic Party Rural Caucus Chair Mark Ludwig had been seeking the top spot, but dropped out last week to instead run as second vice chair on the slate for the Michigan Solidarity Coalition.
While the People’s Coalition isn’t endorsing, Mohammad did say the groups is happy to see that Hertel had included Hind Omar for corresponding secretary on his slate for the MDP Executive Board, who if elected, would be the first Palestinian-American on the board.
The coalition is also hosting a meet and greet featuring Hertel and Williams on Tuesday via Zoom.
Among those supporting the People’s Coalition is Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American attorney and human rights activist, who filed suit against the MDP last year after failing to win the party’s nomination to the University of Michigan Board of Regents. Arraf alleged the party violated its own rules, denying her the nomination. She later dropped the case.
“These past 15 months have been devastating and incredibly challenging for us as a Palestinian people, and also for anyone who values human rights, justice and peace,” said Arraf in a fundraising email for the coalition in which she praised the student encampments across the country, as well as the boycott, divest and sanction efforts against Israel for its continued occupation of Palestinian lands in Gaza and the West Bank.
“If we channel the same energy, passion and dedication to supporting the People’s Coalition, we have the opportunity to create profound and positive change here in Michigan. Our communities are brimming with creativity, energy, connections and resources — all of which can strengthen a growing coalition of progressive leaders; Let’s come together to support (and join) them in pushing for the transformative change that we so urgently need,” said Arraf.
Mohammad said that the coalition is “truly diverse, and yes, they feel they’re pro-humanity, pro-peace people, but the main issue is not just about Gaza, not just about the Palestinians.”
While Palestinians such as herself are involved, Mohammad said the coalition really came together in the aftermath of the election, as well as the failure of Democrats to pass key priorities through the Michigan Legislature during the lame duck session when they still held majorities in both chambers.
“This is not a one-issue movement,” said Mohammad. “I’ve heard things from people here in Washtenaw County, thinking this is Uncommitted. It’s not. This is actually people who want to help bring change, not just to the party, but also amplify the voices of marginalized and underrepresented groups to address the issues that are still here and affecting everyday life.”
Mohammad says whether Democrats want to acknowledge it or not, there is a very real danger of the Michigan Democratic Party losing long-term support, which is what they want to head off.
“There’s a lot of people that are at a point where they are one foot out of the party. Some have left the party,” she said. “I’ve heard so much disappointment, and the sad thing is, it’s more of trying to get people more re-engaged with the party that really serves the working class, that really serves marginalized and underrepresented groups. This is where we belong.”
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