Elections

The former vice president tied himself to Donald Trump in the 2016 campaign and it may have cost him a political future.The decision by Mike Pence to end his presidential campaign on Saturday was a bow to what had finally become inevitable. He was struggling to raise money, win support from the party’s base and manage the torments from the man who had made him nationally famous, Donald J. Trump.But the root of his campaign’s collapse — and, very possibly, his political career — goes back to 2016, when Mr. Pence accepted Mr. Trump’s offer to be his running mate.“He got it completely wrong,” said the Rev. Rob Schenck, an evangelical clergyman and a one-time leader of the anti-abortion movement who gave ministerial counsel to Mr. Pence 20 years ago but later turned against him because of his affiliation with Mr. Trump. “This ended up being disastrous for his political career.”The two men were not close before Mr. Trump’s decision to put Mr. Pence on the ticket. In many ways, beyond sharing a party affiliation, they could not have been more different.When Donald Trump announced Mike Pence as his running mate in July 2016, the two became inextricably linked.Doug Mills/The New York TimesMr. Pence was the governor of Indiana, an evangelical Christian — he titled his memoir “So Help Me God” — who grew up in the rolling farmland of Indiana. He had endorsed one of Mr. Trump’s primary opponents, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. And he was, friends said, discomfited by the freewheeling ways of Mr. Trump, a Queens-born playboy entrepreneur and casino owner who had thrived in the Democratic world of New York.But Mr. Pence was facing a challenging re-election campaign against a Democrat he had only narrowly defeated in 2012. He was, his advisers said, also drawn into the presidential race by the prospect of a spot on the national stage, positioning himself to be either vice president or a strong candidate for president in 2020 should Mr. Trump lose to Hillary Clinton, the Democrat, which polling suggested was likely.After a few days of consideration — and speaking to his wife, Karen, consulting political advisers and friends, and spending time in prayer, by his account — Mr. Pence accepted Mr. Trump’s offer.It was a deal that, by Saturday morning in Las Vegas, as a former vice president was forced to exit the race for president without even making it to the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Pence had almost surely come to regret.He had never learned to manage his relationship with Mr. Trump, to navigate the deep cultural and personal differences between a taciturn Midwestern governor and a flashy New Yorker who never played by the rules of politics that had governed Mr. Pence’s career.Mike Pence found electoral success in 2001 when he was elected to Congress from the Second District of Indiana. Jeff Wolfram/Getty ImagesAfter more than a decade in Congress, one term as governor and another as vice president, Mr. Pence, 64, is, by every appearance, entering the bleakest period of his public life since being elected to Congress from the Second District of Indiana in 2001.His decision to break with Mr. Trump after the Jan. 6 incursion at the Capitol and his challenge to his former boss for the nomination in 2024 angered the former president and alienated the Trump supporters who define the party today. But Mr. Pence’s four years of loyalty to Mr. Trump while he was vice president ultimately made it impossible for him to to win over voters eager to turn the page on the Trump presidency.His decision to align himself with Mr. Trump came in June 2016, when a mutual associate of the two men, an Indiana insurance industry executive named Steve Hilbert, called Mr. Pence to see if he would consider an offer to join Mr. Trump. Mr. Pence, who was in the middle of an effort to recover from a potentially ruinous misstep he had made the year before, was open to the idea.Mr. Pence had signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which effectively authorized businesses to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples, such as Christian businesses that did not want to cater same-sex wedding celebrations. It set off a storm of protest, prompting threats of boycotts from business leaders and sports teams across the nation. The outcry caught Mr. Pence by surprise and put his political future in doubt.“Even our critics — who said we should have seen it coming — they didn’t see it coming,” said Jim Atterholt, who was then Mr. Pence’s chief of staff. “In fairness to the governor, this was not on his agenda, he was not pushing for it. But obviously, it was consistent with the governor’s philosophy in terms of protecting religious freedom.”Mr. Pence was never quite a perfect fit for his running mate, as an evangelical and one who was more of a conservative in the Reagan model. Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty ImagesMr. Pence spent much of the next year talking about state issues like education and taxes, traversing Indiana on what he described as a listening tour as he sought to put the religious freedom bill behind him and turn to his re-election campaign.“Mike was a wounded incumbent,” said Tim Phillips, a conservative activist who was a close friend and an adviser to Mr. Pence. “I think he would have won that race, if it was a good presidential cycle. But it wasn’t like he was cruising to an easy re-elect and a future presidential run in 2020.”If Mr. Pence had any qualms when Mr. Trump approached him, he never voiced them publicly or even to many of his advisers. “Mike sent a message saying ‘If I’m being called to serve, I will serve,’” Mr. Atterholt said. “Mike was open to serving, but he was fully planning for the re-election.”And there were other reasons the offer was tempting. Mr. Pence had never made any secret of his ambitions to run for president himself one day, having given it serious consideration that year. Win or lose, a campaign with Mr. Trump would put him near the front of the line — or so he thought. And Republicans who were concerned about Mr. Trump, and in particular the attention he would pay as president to the evangelical issues that animated Mr. Pence, urged him to do it.“There was a genuine significant role that the V.P. needed to play for Trump,” Mr. Phillips said. “The evangelical right and the conservatives right were very uneasy with Trump. Having a Sherpa who could guide him and provide credibility with Trump, that really mattered in 2016.”Mr. Pence never quite caught on with conservative voters, despite being attached to Mr. Trump.Todd Heisler/The New York TimesToday, nearly eight years later, after having served as Mr. Trump’s vice president before turning against him, Mr. Pence’s short-lived campaign stands as testimony to the unexpected consequences of that decision. For all the kind words said about him by his opponents after he dropped out — “I have no doubt Mike and Karen will continue to serve this nation and honor the Lord in all they do,” said one of his former rivals, Tim Scott — his own future is now uncertain.Mr. Schenck said that he had always been disappointed that Mr. Pence, a man with whom, by his account, he had prayed and read the Scriptures, had aligned himself with a man whom Mr. Schenck called the “diametrical opposite” of the moral leader he and Mr. Pence used to talk about.“There must have come a point where Mike either thought, ‘I can get the better of Donald Trump or I can rise above his immorality,’” Mr. Schenck said. “He has had to do too much accommodation and adjustment. It might have been fatal to his leadership.” More

At the annual Republican Jewish Coalition gathering, G.O.P. leaders are seizing political opportunities in the divisions that the conflict has opened up at home.A series of speeches by Republican presidential candidates on Saturday to a large gathering of Jewish donors and activists demonstrated how the escalating conflict in the Middle East has elevated foreign policy into a dominant campaign issue and exposed fresh divides within the primary contest.Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations, attacked former President Donald J. Trump as “confused” on the threats facing the United States and Israel. Mr. Trump promised to fight the “jihadists, the terrorists, the Marxists” abroad and at home. And Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida denounced the “false moral equivalency” between Hamas and Israeli deaths.The remarks to the Republican Jewish Coalition, set in a sprawling convention center at the Venetian in Las Vegas, took place as Israel expanded its ground operations in Gaza, and at a critical moment for the primary contest. With Mr. Trump far ahead in the polls, time is growing short for his challengers to distinguish themselves. And Ms. Haley and his other rivals see new opportunities in his clumsy response to attacks in Ukraine and Israel, which threaten to expand into broader regional conflicts.Mr. Trump, who spoke last, ignored the other candidates during his remarks, focusing squarely on attacking President Biden as weak, while arguing that the world would be safer if he were still in the White House.“If I were president, the attack on Israel would never ever have happened,” he told the 1,500 attendees who packed the ballroom. “I think you believe that. Ukraine would never have happened. Inflation would have never happened.”Mr. Trump struck the most militaristic tone of the speakers, warning attendees of threats from “a lot of young strong men” entering the country who are the “same people that attacked Israel.” And he praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the neo-authoritarian leader admired by far-right nationalists in the United States and Europe who has been accused of employing anti-Semitic tropes for political gain.In his remarks, Mr. Trump cast himself in a similar vein as Mr. Orban — a “very strong man,” he said — promising to keep the country safe with threats of force.“If you spill a drop of American blood, we will spill a gallon of yours,” he said, arguing that the world had become less safe under the leadership of Mr. Biden. “I will defend America, and I will defend Western civilization from the barbarians and savages and fascists that you see now trying to do harm to our beautiful Israel.”Mr. Trump did not comment on the departure from the race of his former vice president, Mike Pence, who had announced he was ending his presidential bid before Mr. Trump took the stage. In the final speech of his campaign, Mr. Pence warned his party against adopting an isolationist foreign policy — like the policies put forward by Vivek Ramaswamy, who preceded him on the stage.The annual meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition was perhaps the highest-profile gathering of the fall Republican primary season, taking on greater urgency after Hamas’s attack on Israel three weeks ago. Last week, the organization was added as a sponsor of the third Republican debate, a reflection of how Israel unified a broad coalition of party voters and officials, including foreign policy hawks, business leaders and evangelical Christians.It is also a galvanizing moment for Republican officials: In a last-minute pivot, the event’s schedule changed to accommodate the first national appearance by the newly elected House speaker, Mike Johnson, who will address the group on Saturday night.Ms. Haley used her address to launch some of the most scathing attacks of her 2024 primary race, questioning Mr. Trump’s capacity to manage the foreign affairs of a country facing multiple military entanglements abroad. She highlighted remarks by the former president criticizing Israeli intelligence and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as weak just days after the attack.“As president, I will not compliment Hezbollah. Nor will I criticize Israel’s prime minister in the middle of tragedy and war. We have no time for personal vendettas,” she told the crowd of donors, activists and officials. “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.”Ms. Haley, known for her staunch support of Israel as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, has been climbing in the polls after two strong debate performances.“Eight years ago, it was good to have a leader who broke things. But right now, we need a leader who also knows how to put things back together,” she said. “America needs a captain who will steady the ship, not capsize it. And Republicans need a candidate who can actually win.”All eight candidates who appeared offered their strong support for Israel, pledging to back the military operations and fight against rising anti-Semitic threats at home, particularly on college campuses.Of all the candidates, only Mr. Ramaswamy qualified his support, signaling that he would be less inclined to provide military support to Israelis for the escalating conflict. The entrepreneur and author tried to win over the crowd, entering to the music of Matisyahu, an observant Jewish hip-hop artist, reciting a line of a Jewish prayer in Hebrew and quoting liberally from David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel.In his address, which involved a meandering recounting of modern Israeli military history, Mr. Ramaswamy attempted to recast a more isolationist stance as supportive of Israel’s right to self-defense.“If Israel wants to destroy Hamas, is should go ahead and destroy Hamas,” he said. “But these are decisions for Israel to make, not America. I am not running for president of Israel. I am running for president of the United States.”Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey who has for months been Mr. Trump’s chief antagonist on the campaign trail, struck a more somber tone in his remarks, saying “this is too serious a moment for pettiness.”Mr. Christie and Mr. Ramaswamy were the only candidates whose speeches were met with resounding boos, though from different corners of the audience: Mr. Christie has been a target of Trump supporters, and Mr. Ramaswamy has been widely criticized for his hesitation to provide military support.Mr. Trump entered Saturday’s event as the crowd favorite, beloved for his record on Israel as president, which included moving the American embassy to Jerusalem and signing the Abraham Accords, an agreement normalizing relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. He also cut aid for Palestinians, and his administration took steps to designate a campaign to boycott Israel as antisemitic.But his criticism of Israeli intelligence and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as weak just days after the attack, and his description of Hezbollah attackers as “very smart,” has invited attacks from his rivals.Amid the expression of concern and solidarity for one of America’s closest allies, Republican politicians saw political opportunities in the divisions that the conflict has opened up at home.Several of the speakers on Saturday disparaged progressive Democratic lawmakers, particularly Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, whose names drew loud boos from the audience. Others spoke about the tensions on college campuses, where students have clashed over the war.“Progressives say they’re all about the safety and feelings of minorities, the oppressed, the marginalized,” said Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. “But when it comes to Jewish Americans who are hurting — they are silent.” More

The former vice president said he would end his bid in a surprise announcement at a gathering of Jewish Republican donors. “It’s become clear to me that this is not my time,” he said.Former Vice President Mike Pence, who spent four years dutifully serving President Donald J. Trump but refused to carry out Mr. Trump’s demand that he block the 2020 election results, ended his presidential bid on Saturday, with a final appeal for his party to return to conservative principles and resist the “siren song of populism.”The surprise announcement came at the end of his remarks before a crowd of Jewish Republican donors in Las Vegas, and was met with gasps. Mr. Pence had received a standing ovation, opening his speech with a full-throated endorsement of Israel’s military operations in Gaza.Then he pivoted to a more “personal note,” saying that after much prayer and deliberation, he had decided to drop out of the race.“It’s become clear to me that this is not my time,” he told the crowd of 1,500, promising to “never leave the fight for conservative values.”Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations and a crowd favorite, opened her address to the group with praise for Mr. Pence, adding several lines to her prepared remarks.“He’s been a good man of faith. He’s been a good man of service. He has fought for America and he has fought for Israel,” she said. “We all owe him a debt of gratitude.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.We are confirming your access to this article, this will take just a moment. However, if you are using Reader mode please log in, subscribe, or exit Reader mode since we are unable to verify access in that state.Confirming article access.If you are a subscriber, please More

One of the governor’s closest Jewish allies in the state publicly switched his support to Donald J. Trump, citing past incidents.As Israel’s war against Hamas has become an animating force in the Republican presidential primary, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has cast himself as a staunch defender of the Jewish state, sending taxpayer-funded charter flights to rescue Americans stranded in Israel, calling for harsh measures against the civilians of Gaza and ordering pro-Palestinian groups on public university campuses in his state to disband.Those efforts, as well as a series of bills he has signed to combat antisemitism in Florida in the past, have won him attention from the news media and praise from some Republican voters.But Mr. DeSantis has earned fewer plaudits for his response to a series of neo-Nazi demonstrations that have taken place in his state over the last two years. The hateful displays have included masked men marching and chanting “Jews get the rope” and banners with swastikas hung from highway overpasses.Unlike other prominent Republican politicians in Florida, the governor stayed silent after each incident, making no public statements. When pressed, he has said that he did not wish to draw attention to people he considered provocateurs, and claimed that those calling on him to denounce the groups were trying to “smear” him by association. But his adamant, ongoing refusal to condemn the public activities of neo-Nazis has angered and confused many American Jews while highlighting what critics say is his tendency toward obstinacy.Now, as he challenges former President Donald J. Trump for the Republican nomination, his silence has also become a concern for some Republican donors. Two of them, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive and private discussions, said that they or their allies had reached out to Mr. DeSantis’s advisers after high-profile incidents of antisemitism in Florida, urging him to say more. One of the donors recounted being told that Mr. DeSantis did not want to speak out. There wasn’t an explanation as to why, beyond that the governor believed he had done enough already, the person said.State Representative Randy Fine, a close ally of Mr. DeSantis’s and the only Jewish Republican in the State Legislature, broke with the governor after the attack on Israel.Octavio Jones/ReutersWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.We are confirming your access to this article, this will take just a moment. However, if you are using Reader mode please log in, subscribe, or exit Reader mode since we are unable to verify access in that state.Confirming article access.If you are a subscriber, please More

The former speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was a prolific fund-raiser for his House colleagues. The new speaker, Mike Johnson, doesn’t yet have the same juice.The decision to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker and replace him with a little-known congressman, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, has left a glaring financial gap for House Republicans headed into 2024 when the party has to defend its narrow and fragile majority.Mr. McCarthy’s political operation brought in more than 100 times the amount of money that Mr. Johnson has collected so far in 2023 — $78 million to roughly $608,000, according to federal records and public disclosures. And in Mr. Johnson’s entire congressional career, dating to his first run in 2016, the Louisiana Republican has raised a total of $6.1 million — less than Mr. McCarthy’s average monthly take this year.The willingness of House Republicans to trade a party rainmaker for a member who has raised less than some more junior colleagues has caused a deep sense of uncertainty at the highest levels of the conference, even as relieved lawmakers united behind Mr. Johnson to end weeks of political paralysis.“Mike Johnson is not known to be a prolific fund-raiser. He’s raised money to meet his needs in a noncompetitive seat in Louisiana,” said Tom Reynolds, a former New York congressman and past chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “It remains to be seen: Can he raise money to help the members when it comes time next year?”In the days since he took the gavel, Mr. Johnson called Dan Conston, the president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main House Republican super PAC, and is expected to play a significant role in that group’s fund-raising going forward. And in a sign of the urgency of the political task ahead — in addition to governing — Mr. Johnson, in a meeting first reported by Punchbowl News, visited the headquarters of the National Republican Congressional Committee within hours of his swearing-in on Wednesday.Mr. Johnson has large financial shoes to fill.Mr. McCarthy has been directly responsible for 10 to 25 percent of all the campaign money raised this year by almost all of the House’s most vulnerable Republicans, according to an analysis of federal records.Mr. McCarthy’s transfers to the party’s House campaign committee amount to more than 25 percent of the $70.1 million raised this year. Then there are the hundreds of millions of dollars that Mr. McCarthy has helped raise in recent years for the House G.O.P.’s main super PAC, which has been closely aligned with him.In a brief interview Friday, Mr. McCarthy pledged to “help the party to bridge the gap” in the coming weeks and months as the new speaker takes over, though it is not yet clear if he will keep up the dizzying pace of travel that his team said had taken him to 22 states and 85 cities this year.“I helped build the majority, and I’m not going to walk away from it,” Mr. McCarthy said.One person who has been in touch with the new speaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation, said Mr. Johnson understood the weight of his new responsibility, not just legislatively but also politically.Adding to the sense of uncertainty among top Republicans is how Mr. Johnson’s hard-line positions on social issues — his opposition to gay marriage and strict anti-abortion stance — will play with some of the party’s key financiers, who tend to be more moderate than the party base.Representative Mike Johnson won the votes of his caucus. Now he’ll have to deliver on the fund-raising front.Haiyun Jiang for The New York TimesAllies of Mr. Johnson predicted he would quickly take to the money circuit. To some extent, the perpetual money machine that is modern Washington has already begun to adjust to the new Republican order.“The event we do for him will probably be the easiest money I’ve raised all cycle,” said Susan Hirschmann, a Republican lobbyist who leads the firm Williams & Jensen and is already organizing a fund-raiser. “I can tell you my phone has been ringing off the hook with people wanting to help raise money for Speaker Johnson.”Brian Ballard, who runs another major lobbying firm, said that the new speaker’s team had already reached out and they were now organizing an event this fall. “The world turns, and that role requires him to take that on,” Mr. Ballard said. “My clients are very excited to work with him. It’s seamless as far as I’m concerned.”Still, it is not just the prodigious nature of Mr. McCarthy’s fund-raising but also the specific methods he used to raise and distribute money that make his efforts hard to replicate. His political operation built the war chests of his party’s most vulnerable incumbents — a hole that the new speaker is unlikely to be able to fill in the months leading up to next year’s crucial elections.Federal records show that for 21 of the 24 most vulnerable Republican incumbents, Mr. McCarthy was directly responsible for at least 10 percent of their fund-raising in the first nine months of 2023. That is an unusually significant share to have come from a single source, and Mr. McCarthy did so by bundling large numbers of contributions before distributing them to his colleagues.For some members, the McCarthy share was closer to 25 percent of what they raised.Representative Brandon Williams of New York has received about $336,000 from Mr. McCarthy-linked committees this year — roughly one-quarter of the $1.3 million he has raised. Representative John Duarte of California, who won one of the nation’s narrowest contests in 2022, has received roughly $402,000 from the former speaker’s operation — more than 23 percent of the $1.7 million he has raised.The McCarthy team had intended to soon pivot to similarly fill the coffers of the Republican challengers running against Democratic incumbents, according to three people familiar with the plans, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for Mr. McCarthy’s political operation, but the future of those efforts is now unclear.Even with Mr. McCarthy’s efforts, the National Republican Congressional Committee has trailed its Democratic counterpart in fund-raising this year, $70.1 million to $93.2 million, and entered October with about $8 million less in the bank.“Clearly Republicans were extremely dependent on Kevin McCarthy for their fund-raising,” said Representative Suzan DelBene of Washington, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “This does put them in a very difficult position.”Mr. McCarthy spent more than a decade carefully tending to donor relationships as he rose through the ranks of the House. Mr. Johnson is entering the speakership with neither a significant large donor network nor a devoted grass-roots following. His campaign account had brought in less than $300,000 in donations of less than $200 in his congressional career.And while he served as the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, an internal House conservative caucus, he has not been a fixture on the Washington fund-raising circuit and has not chaired a standing committee.Jeff Brooks, a partner at the lobbying firm Adams and Reese who knows Mr. Johnson, said that “he’s got the personality” to succeed. “There is going to be a gap, no question,” he said of replacing Mr. McCarthy’s money. “But Mike is going to close it quickly.”Mr. Johnson’s office declined to comment.For now, Representative Steve Scalise, the majority leader and a fellow Louisiana Republican, is expected to help Mr. Johnson as he builds out his operation.“When someone like Mike gets into this very important role, very suddenly I think it’s fair to say — obviously a person in that position needs to be careful about who’s really loyal and committed to him versus being opportunist,” said David Vitter, a former senator from Louisiana and now a lobbyist who has known Mr. Johnson for years. “I know Mike trusts Steve and Steve’s team in general.”Some in Washington have scoffed that one of Mr. McCarthy’s top money men, Jeff Miller, a lobbyist who has been a prolific fund-raiser for years, said in Politico that he would help Mr. Johnson.“Very selfless of him,” Mr. Vitter said with a laugh. More

Many in the swing state say they feel betrayed by the president’s support for Israel.Sam Baydoun, a Wayne County commissioner in Dearborn, Mich., has been glued to Al Jazeera for weeks to absorb news from the war in Israel and Gaza.Mr. Baydoun, a Democrat who is Lebanese American, has watched with fury as Israeli airstrikes have caused the deaths of many civilians, including children, following the deadly attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed many. He saw President Biden visit Israel and pledge full-throated American support.And he is thinking ahead to the presidential election of 2024, a contest that could hinge on a handful of states including Michigan, whose Muslim and Arab American voters turned out decisively for Mr. Biden three years ago.“How can I tell somebody who’s watching these atrocities on live TV, today, to vote for President Biden?” he said. “The pulse of the community is overwhelmingly not supportive of Biden now. They feel betrayed.”There are about 200,000 registered Muslim American voters in Michigan, by some counts, a significant bloc in a battleground state of 8.2 million registered voters.Valaurian Waller for The New York TimesThat anger at the Biden administration’s response to the conflict in the Mideast is widely shared by Arab Americans in Michigan, especially in Wayne County, which includes the cities of Hamtramck and Dearborn, where Muslims have a large population and have been elected to top leadership roles.Mr. Biden has made repeated gestures of support to Muslims and Arab Americans: In an Oval Office address on Oct. 20, he denounced Islamophobia and the death of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old who was fatally stabbed in Illinois in what authorities have called a hate crime. Mr. Biden said he was “heartbroken” by the loss of Palestinian life in the war: “We can’t ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians who only want to live in peace and have an opportunity,” he said.Ammar Moussa, a spokesman for the president’s re-election campaign, said that Mr. Biden “knows the importance of earning the trust of every community, of upholding the sacred dignity and rights of all Americans,” and is working closely with Muslim and Palestinian American leaders.But many Arab Americans were outraged by Mr. Biden’s visit to Israel, his embrace of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his pledge that “we will continue to have Israel’s back.”Nada Al-Hanooti, a Palestinian American organizer based in Dearborn, said that as of 2020, there were approximately 200,000 registered Muslim voters in Michigan, making the community a significant voting bloc in a battleground state of 8.2 million registered voters.“In 2020, the Muslim community was instrumental in turning out the vote for Joe Biden,” said Ms. Al-Hanooti, the Michigan executive director of Emgage, a national organization that seeks to strengthen the political power of Muslim Americans. “We did a lot of get-out-the-vote efforts.”Mr. Biden won the state by nearly 155,000 votes. Muslim voters turned out in significant numbers — 145,000 voted in the presidential election, according to Emgage. An exit poll commissioned by the Council on American-Islamic Relations found that roughly 69 percent of Muslims nationwide voted for Biden.Ms. Al-Hanooti said Muslims turned out in large numbers for Mr. Biden mainly because they were motivated to help defeat President Trump. As a candidate for president, Mr. Trump called for a shutdown of Muslim immigration and referred to “radical Islam” infiltrating American communities; while in office, he issued an executive order that imposed restrictions on refugees and visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries.In Dearborn, Mich., the bustling downtown is dotted with Middle Eastern restaurants and storefronts with signs in Arabic. Valaurian Waller for The New York Times“But the truth is that we are experiencing the same Islamophobic rhetoric right now coming from the Biden administration,” she said, adding that Muslims in Michigan “don’t feel safe, they don’t feel heard and they don’t feel seen.”Adam Y. Abusalah, a Palestinian American resident of Dearborn, joined the Biden 2020 campaign as a field organizer in Michigan.“At the time, I thought Biden was the better candidate and that he would lead with compassion and humanity,” said Mr. Abusalah, 22, who works in local government.But he now feels that the administration’s approach to Palestinian issues and Israel, he said, is indistinguishable from Mr. Trump’s. The president’s staunch support for Israel in recent days has been gut-wrenching, he said.Mr. Abusalah said his community is feeling anguished and fearful in the wake of the outbreak of violence in the Middle East.“It feels like it’s a crime to speak up for Palestine right now,” he said. “The media and our elected officials make us look like we’re bad just for speaking up about injustices.”Some prominent Arab American figures in Michigan have predicted that many voters in the state will choose to leave the presidential candidate ballot blank next year.One of them is Osama Siblani, the publisher of The Arab American News and an outspoken voice on Middle East policy. He has heard the worry that abandoning Mr. Biden means that Mr. Trump, should he be the Republican nominee for president, will prevail.“My argument is, ‘Let him win,’” he said of Mr. Trump.In Dearborn, a city whose bustling center is dotted with Middle Eastern restaurants and storefronts with signs in Arabic, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud has absorbed the distress from his constituents over the direction of the Democratic Party.“What I’m hearing from community members now is the feeling of being back-stabbed,” he said. “The feeling of being brought into the fold under this tent of diversity, yet the issues, the values, the principles we fight to uphold are not being taken up by the party that we have pledged to support again and again.”Osama Siblani, the publisher of The Arab American News in Dearborn.Valaurian Waller for The New York TimesAt a vigil for Gaza on Thursday evening on the campus of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, students held candles and listened somberly as an organizer, Hani J. Bawardi, an associate professor of history at the school, spoke to the crowd.He planned the vigil to help students despairing over the war feel that they are not alone, he said on Friday.Many students have never voted in a presidential election before, Mr. Bawardi noted, and some are now asking themselves: “What do we do with our votes?” he said.He predicted that a third-party candidate would capture their attention next year, in the same way that Ralph Nader did in the presidential election of 2000.“I don’t see any other path than a repeat of that,” Mr. Bawardi said. More

Although no citywide offices are being contested this year, the New York City Council is up for election, and voters statewide will consider two ballot questions.Election Day is still several days away, but voters in New York can get a head start on Saturday, when early voting begins.There are some interesting New York City Council races on the ballot. One features two sitting council members who are fighting bitterly over a redrawn district in southern Brooklyn; one of the candidates switched parties and is now running as a Republican. Another face-off pits two newcomers in a nearby district that was recently created to amplify the voices of Asian voters.But for most New Yorkers, it will be a relatively quiet Election Day, with no presidential, governor or mayoral races on the ballot this year.What is on the ballot this year?Your ballot might include races for the City Council, district attorney, judges and two statewide ballot measures.The City Council is led by Democrats, and they are expected to keep control of the legislative body. But some local races have been contentious, and Republicans have been trying to increase their power in a city that has long favored Democrats.There are district attorney races in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island, but only Melinda Katz, the Queens district attorney, faces a challenger. The two statewide ballot measures involve a debt limit for small city school districts and the construction of sewage facilities.How do I vote?Early voting starts on Oct. 28 and ends Nov. 5. You can find your polling location online.Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7, and polls are open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m.Absentee ballots are available for people who are out of town, ill or have other reasons they cannot vote in person, though the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot online has passed.Are there any close races?One of the most interesting races is the clash in Brooklyn between Justin Brannan, a Democrat and chair of the Council’s Finance Committee, and Ari Kagan, a council member who recently left the Democratic Party for the Republican Party.Mr. Brannan, a former punk rock guitarist, is running in a swing district against Mr. Kagan, a former radio and TV show host from Belarus. The two have quarreled over the city’s handling of the migrant crisis, abortion and other issues.Another council member, Inna Vernikov, a Republican, is running for re-election after being charged with openly carrying a gun at a pro-Palestinian rally — an event that she opposed and was observing.In Queens, Vickie Paladino, a Republican council member, is facing a challenge from Tony Avella, a Democratic former state senator. In the Bronx, Marjorie Velázquez, a Democratic council member, has had strong union support as she runs against a Republican challenger, Kristy Marmorato, an X-ray technician hoping to replicate her party’s showing in 2021, when Curtis Sliwa, a Republican, narrowly won the district in the mayoral race over Eric Adams, a Democrat.Why is there a new City Council district?The city’s redistricting commission sought to reflect the growth in the city’s Asian population, and created a City Council district in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, which has a majority of Asian residents. The so-called Asian opportunity district has no incumbent.The two main candidates are Chinese American. Susan Zhuang, a Democrat and chief of staff to a state assembly member, is running against Ying Tan, a Republican and community activist.The Republican Party has made inroads with some Asian voters in New York, and Ms. Tan has focused on crime. Her campaign website promises to “bring law and order back!”A third candidate, Vito LaBella, a former police lieutenant, is running on the Conservative line after losing the Republican primary to Ms. Tan.What issues are on voters’ minds?New Yorkers are concerned about many pressing issues: an influx of migrants from the southern border, public safety, the city’s housing and affordability crisis, and the recent attacks in Israel.Roughly 58 percent of New York State voters agree with Mayor Adams that the migrant issue “will destroy New York City,” according to a recent Siena College poll.On Israel, about 50 percent of voters believe that a “large-scale Israeli attack in Gaza is too risky,” but that Israel “must try everything” to rescue hostages taken by Hamas, according to the poll. Nearly one-third of voters said that a “large-scale attack” in Gaza was warranted.Steven Greenberg, a Siena College pollster, also noted that a “Republican came within seven points of being elected governor” last year, when Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, beat Lee Zeldin, then a Republican congressman. With Republicans gaining ground in New York State, Mr. Greenberg said that the poll showed the “worst-ever” approval ratings for President Biden in New York. More

A super PAC supporting Trump is shifting its strategy again, with less than three months before the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.The super PAC supporting Donald J. Trump will begin airing an attack against Ron DeSantis in Iowa, a shift in strategy after months of focusing their messaging on their likely general election opponent.It will enter the rotation as part of an ad buy totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars by the group Make America Great Again Inc., which supports Mr. Trump. It aims to paint Mr. DeSantis, with less than three months before the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, as insufficiently conservative, by accusing him of supporting statehood for Puerto Rico.It marks a change in approach by the super PAC, which abandoned negative ads about Mr. DeSantis at the start of the summer. The group shifted to focusing on the likely general election opponent, and attacking President Biden, beginning in August, a move that might appeal to some primary voters but which also sent the message that Team Trump saw Mr. DeSantis as a fading threat.Mr. DeSantis’s team took something of a victory lap over the existence of the ad, with Andrew Romeo, a spokesman, saying it showed that “after months of pounding their chest that they already had the race won, Team Trump is now being forced to publicly admit that Ron DeSantis is climbing in Iowa, and is a dire threat to their chances of securing the nomination.”Mr. Romeo described a litany of problems such as the southern border crisis and the war in the Middle East and said that amid all of it, “Team Trump inexplicably has decided to level false and hypocritical attacks on Ron DeSantis … about Puerto Rico.”An official with the super PAC declined to comment on the ad.Mr. Trump’s team appears to be trying to crush Mr. DeSantis in the state where he has turned his focus in the remaining weeks before the caucuses. And the fresh attacks are coming as he tries to stave off Ms. Haley, pushing him into a two-front political battle with reduced resources.“Liberals have a plan to make Puerto Rico a state, adding two Democrats to the Senate, and Ron DeSantis sided with the liberals’ power play,” the ad says. “Ron DeSantis sponsored the bill to make Puerto Rico a state.”It ends by saying, “DeSantis sided with the liberals and sold out Iowa conservatives. Ron DeSantis is just plain wrong.”The topic of statehood for Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory since 1898, has been politically charged for years, with many Republicans opposing it, suggesting it would help Democrats electorally. As a congressman, Mr. DeSantis, along with several other members, co-sponsored a bill that did not openly call for statehood for Puerto Rico, but laid out a path by which it could be accomplished.The ad comes as Mr. DeSantis is fending off the threat of movement in the state by Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, after Mr. DeSantis had held steady in second place for months, though well behind Mr. Trump.Mr. DeSantis’s team pointed to a statement Mr. Trump gave in early 2016, as a first-time candidate, in which he also supported a process for Puerto Rican statehood.But since then, and during his presidency, Mr. Trump was adamantly opposed to statehood, primarily after officials in Puerto Rico criticized his performance in response to Hurricane Maria.Mr. DeSantis has also been critical of Puerto Rican statehood more recently, and in starkly political terms.In a recent virtual event with voters in the Virgin Islands, which is holding its primary in February, Mr. DeSantis was asked about whether he would support territories gaining a voice in the Electoral College.“Well, how would the Virgin Islands vote for president — would they be red or blue?” he said to laughs, according to a recording of his remarks.“I don’t want to pony up three electoral votes for the other team.”He later added, “People are Americans and they should be treated as equal citizens. How that works with the Electoral College, you know, I’m not sure that there’s going to be necessarily a movement on that front.” More