NOVI, Michigan—Concerns about the economy, religious freedom, and border security are driving unlikely Michigan voters to the polls to vote Republican for the first time.
One of the most hotly contested swing states, with its 15 Electoral College votes, Michigan may determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
Members of Naomi Steury’s Amish community in Battle Creek, Michigan, are registering to vote so that they can help elect former President Donald Trump. Although the Amish traditionally do not vote, she said, Amish residents of Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania know something has to change if they are going to be able to afford to continue living on their farms.
On Saturday, Steury attended the Trump rally in Novi, Michigan, shortly after registering to vote as a Republican for the first time.
“Everything is going downhill, like our families try to stay on the farm and they can’t afford to buy anything,” she told The Daily Signal. “It’s too expensive. They can’t afford to buy land, and we are struggling with interest. Everything is just down.”
After the two attempts to assassinate Trump, Steury said, she felt God “directing” her to vote and she feels “at peace” with that decision. At least 30 others in her community in Battle Creek are following suit, she said.
Steury, husband Sam, and their two voting-age daughters all plan to cast their ballots for the former president rather than Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
“We know what Kamala Harris has done,” Steury said. “She’s already been tried, and Trump has been tried. Look what Trump did, and look what Kamala did.”
Harris leads Trump by .03% in Michigan, 48.1% to 47.8%, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls.
Zayn Khazaali, an Arab-American from Dearborn, Michigan, says he voted for Joe Biden over Trump in 2020. But after three and a half years of record-high inflation, Khazaali said, he is voting this time for the former president.
“While the country before with Trump was doing really good economically, we are now in bad shape and we cannot continue another four years with Democrats,” Khazaali told The Daily Signal.
Trump is aligned with American values and has made efforts to gain the trust of Muslim and Arab-American communities, Khazaali said.
“I believe the Muslim community and Arabic communities, they want a president that is close to their values, in order to be one nation that’s strong,” he said. “And I believe in the unity of American citizens if we all gather, and I believe Donald Trump will be the president that we need right now—especially in the world, with what’s going on.”
Many other Muslims are undecided about who they will vote for Nov. 5, he said, but his family is leaning toward Trump.
“It feels like doing something [for] the community,” Khazaali said. “He’s kind of inspiring them. They are feeling like he’s more trustworthy.”
Some Muslims doubt Democrats’ leadership because they support gender ideology. Democrats say they’re for minorities, but their promotion of the LGBTQ agenda makes Muslims feel excluded, Khazaali said.
“We are all American in the end, and we pick the president that can take the country forward, not a Democrat who [would] put us back for many years,” he said. “We don’t want that to happen again.”
Azia Hernandez, who says she is a model for the energy drink Red Bull, is a resident of Wayne County, Michigan. Growing up in a Hispanic household, Hernandez said, she was told Democrats were the party of the working class.
After doing some research of her own, Hernandez decided this wasn’t true and became a Republican.
“I’m married to a military man,” Hernandez told The Daily Signal. “It’s awesome, but he’s British. It’s been two years. We can’t get him over here, but then we have all these illegals able to come over here, no problem.”
Jim, a small business owner in Oakland County who emigrated from Baghdad, Iraq, says he has always been a Republican. He asked The Daily Signal not to publish his full name.
“A small business owner is a conservative by nature,” the Chaldean American told The Daily Signal. “You don’t balance the books, you’re going to go out of business. Simple, plain and simple. And the same thing, I feel that this country should be run by someone that is familiar with business, and they need to balance the budget.”
“A businessman understands how to balance the books,” said Jim, “and that’s why I believe that Trump can do it again.”
He said he attended the Trump rally in Novi with his two daughters and niece, who are highly educated and in their 20s.
He is confident that Trump will win Michigan because of the “pent-up demand and regret from the last election,” Jim said.
He said the past four years have been characterized by “working twice as hard for less” and “trying to get caught up with the inflation, with the economy.”
“I miss four years ago,” Jim said.
Colin Green, 20, also from Oakland County, said he supports Trump and attended the rally because of the tax cuts implemented during Trump’s presidency, which he believes benefited middle-class residents like himself.
“I’m here because I’m 20 years old, and I want to be able to afford to have a house,” Green said. “I want to be able to afford to live, afford groceries, afford gas. I want to be able to afford a general, decent standard of living.”
A black resident of Oakland County, 21-year-old Breezy Mohammed, told The Daily Signal that he is casting his first-ever vote for Trump because he believes the former president will protect his gun rights.
As a Christian, Mohammed said, he also is concerned about Harris’ radical positions in favor of the LGBTQ agenda.
“Without a doubt, either Christians shouldn’t vote at all or they should be voting for Trump,” he said. “There’s no way you should be voting for Kamala.”
Mohammed said high grocery and gas prices have affected Americans nationwide, so he believes they will vote for a change.
“I think from talking to people, talking to my friends, even the youth, all my friends are voting Trump,” he said.