SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN — Abbas Alawieh is running for Michigan State Senate in District Two and will face state Rep. Erin Byrnes in the Democratic primary on August 4, 2026. Alawieh, a co-founder of the Uncommitted Movement during the 2024 election cycle, seeks to represent working-class and immigrant communities in southeastern Michigan.
The Uncommitted Movement, which Alawieh helped lead, urged Democratic primary voters to select “uncommitted” as a protest against U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza. More than 700,000 Americans voted uncommitted in Democratic primaries in 2024, and approximately 30 uncommitted delegates attended the Democratic National Convention that August.
Alawieh previously worked as a top aide to former Rep. Andy Levin, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and former Rep. Cori Bush, serving as chief of staff and legislative director for progressive members of Congress. He also collaborated with Levin and Rep. John Moolenaar, a Republican, on bipartisan immigration legislation. His background includes growing up on Medicaid and food assistance.
Alawieh states he has never taken corporate money for his campaign and has worked with frontline advocates to raise funds to bail people out of ICE detention. He participates in protests against the expansion of ICE detention centers in southeastern Michigan and brings Mediterranean food to immigrant neighbors after their release from detention.
"The Democratic Party isn’t speaking to the needs of working families more broadly. I feel like anytime I hear about family in the context of our national politics, it’s the Republicans claiming the idea and using it as a way to divide people," Alawieh said.
"My name is Abbas Alawieh. Family is everything to me, and I’m running to represent every single person in Senate District Two like they are family to me," he said.
No independent assessment of Abbas Alawieh’s claims was available.