Makled bested a Jewish incumbent who has faced an onslaught of antisemitic attacks and vandalism incidents at his home and office.
Michigan Democrats nominated Amir Makled, a radical Dearborn-based lawyer, for the University of Michigan Board of Regents over incumbent Jordan Acker, a Jewish board member who has faced intense backlash for his support of Israel.
Makled secured the nomination for one of the board’s two open seats at the Democrat’s convention on Sunday and will appear on the general election ballot in November. The eight-person board governs the University of Michigan, the state’s largest university and flagship public school.
Throughout his campaign, Makled argued that the university should divest from Israel. In recent years the left-wing lawyer has taken to praising the U.S.-designated terror group Hezbollah and attacking Israel in antisemitic terms on social media. In one since-deleted tweet, surfaced by the Detroit News, Makled described Hezbollah official Abu Ali Khalil, who was killed in a June 2025 Israeli airstrike, as “a martyr on the road to Jerusalem.” In another post, Makled referred to Hezbollah’s former leader, Hassan Nasrallah, as a “martyr.”
Makled also reposted and then deleted a message on X praising Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in June 2020. Makled used the honorific “Haj” ahead of Soleimani’s name, a title of respect given to a Muslim person who successfully completes the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. As commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Soleimani directed terror operations that claimed thousands of lives across the Middle East and around the world.
Makled also reposted social media posts from far-right influencer Candace Owens, including one post in which Owens referred to Israelis as “demons.”
After the social media posts came to light, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) withdrew its endorsement of Makled.
Makled represented a University of Michigan student who was arrested during an anti-Israel encampment on campus and received an endorsement from Democratic Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib.
“Our right to dissent is critical and when students are organizing for justice for Palestinians or protesting for Black Lives or against ICE, we should never allow any university to target them. The constitutional rights of students don’t stop when they enter university property,” Tlaib wrote in a social media post.
“Amir not only represented University of Michigan students who were vilified, targeted and criminalized for their speech, but he has been showing up to support them with no hesitation.”
Acker, the incumbent who lost the nomination to Makled, has faced an onslaught of antisemitic attacks. His office, as well as his fellow Jewish Regent Mark Bernstein’s office, were vandalized.
Multiple times in 2024, Acker’s home was targeted by anti-Israel activists. The incidents were described as “antisemitic” by both university leadership and Michigan politicians.
The University of Michigan was one of the dozens of universities the Trump administration investigated for antisemitism on campus.
“The department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said last spring after launching the investigation into the university.
Makled did not respond to National Review‘s request for comment.