By Emily Horne

Like many of my fellow Michiganders, this past year of tragedy in Israel and Gaza has been gut-wrenching. That’s one of the many reasons I’m proud to support Kamala Harris for President: she believes a hostage deal is long overdue, and called for a ceasefire that would both end the war in Gaza now and increase humanitarian assistance to Gazans. She believes a two-state solution is the best path toward an enduring peace and affirms the rights of both Israelis and Gazans to live in dignity, peace, and self-determination.

Vice President Harris also has a strong track record of delivering for Michigan. Coming out of a surprise Trump victory in 2016, Democrats heard loud and clear that Michiganders would not be taken for granted. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Democrats have fixed the damn roads, quintupled the working family tax credit for Michigan families, and secured more than $25 billion in clean energy jobs and infrastructure investment for the state. On the national security front, we have rebuilt our alliances, secured our supply chains, rallied the world in defense of Ukraine, and stood up for our workers, interests, and values on the world stage.

Growing up in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, I was taught the value of hard work and commitment. We Michiganders are practical people. We care about our neighbors even when we disagree, and we don’t have a lot of use for flashy visitors who only show up when the cameras are on.

Jill Stein could have been working to help the people of Michigan these past four years. But instead she admits “there’s not much we can point to as proof of our effectiveness as a political party.” Stein disappeared for four years, only to pop up in Metro Detroit in October of an election year with empty promises. This pandering isn’t the leadership we need.

I’ve spent nearly two decades working in national security and been in the White House Situation Room with Vice President Harris. She is strong, sharp, and strategic and knows that American leaders are accountable to the American people and treats that responsibility as a sacred oath.

Who does Jill Stein deliver for? Donald Trump. She knows she helped Donald Trump win in 2016. She knows she’s risking the same impact today. And she doesn’t care.

A second Trump presidency would be dangerous in all sorts of unprecedented ways, especially for people who care about Middle East peace. If elected, Trump will bar Palestinians and other refugees from entering the US. He will try to deport people who he deems radical, and said “any student that protests, I throw them out of the country.” Donald Trump’s closest foreign policy advisor boasted to Michiganders about the money to be made rebuilding Gaza’s destroyed waterfront. And his chief Israel advisor plans to divert $1 billion from rebuilding Gaza to help far-right Israeli settlers annex more territory in the West Bank.

A pre-emptive Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, which Trump says he supports, could turn into an all-out war that draws US troops back into the Middle East. Kamala Harris is the pragmatic, level-headed leader we need to keep US troops from getting sucked into a war. She will keep Iran and its proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah constrained from turning the terrible war in Gaza into a much bigger regional catastrophe that would undoubtedly kill Americans. Those are the stakes in this election.

A recent letter from Muslim leaders endorsing Vice President Harris exhorted us all to “‘resist becoming angry,’ for it eats up goodness and overrides rational thinking… We are to be future-oriented, strategic, and rational rather than just focus on the present.” Vice President Harris will keep delivering for all Michiganders, stand up for our values, and protect our interests in the Middle East and around the world.

Emily Horne is a former Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council Spokesperson. She was raised in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor.