Huwaida Arraf’s supporters yell for accountability from Michigan’s Democratic Party the Michigan Democratic Party’s nominating convention in Lansing on Aug. 24, 2024 after Arraf was not selected to appear as one of the party’s candidates on the November ballot for the University of Michigan Board of Regents | Photo Anna Liz Nichols
As Michigan Democrats on Saturday nominated their picks for Supreme Court and education boards on the Nov. 5 ballot, the University of Michigan Regents — the one contested race — took centerstage.
The nominating convention, held in Lansing, was flooded with supporters decked in maize shirts for Board of Regents candidate and pro-Palestinian movement leader Huwaida Arraf. Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, the University of Michigan has had a number of pro-Palestinian demonstrations and an encampment, which university officials disbanded, with protesters calling on regents to divest from companies tied to Israel.
Arraf faced two other Democrats: current Regent Denise Ilitch, who was first elected to the board in 2008, and Dr. Shauna Ryder Diggs, who had previously served as a regent until 2020 . They were endorsed by both Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and a coalition of labor unions.