El-Sayed builds a grassroots Senate run in Michigan
Detroit physician has turned underdog bid into one of state's most energized campaigns, built on labor, health care and small donors
DETROIT (MNTV) — Abdul El-Sayed has turned an unlikely U.S. Senate bid into one of Michigan’s most energized Democratic campaigns, built around economic inequality, universal health care, organized labor and opposition to corporate money in politics.
The 41-year-old physician and former Detroit health director entered the race for retiring Sen. Gary Peters’s seat as an underdog, then narrowly beat Rep. Haley Stevens in the primary — by less than a point, despite tens of millions in advertising by groups backing Stevens, including a Zionist super PAC — relying on individual donors and grassroots organizing.
His campaign reported raising $2.3 million from more than 43,000 people in the 48 hours after his nomination, and has since drawn large crowds alongside Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and UAW president Shawn Fain.
The son of an Egyptian immigrant, El-Sayed studied at Michigan, Oxford and Columbia before leading Detroit’s health department.
He backs Medicare for All, higher taxes on the wealthy and stronger unions, and his primary-campaign opposition to U.S. military aid to Israel resonated with Arab American and younger voters angered by the genocide in Gaza.
He now faces Republican Mike Rogers, endorsed by President Donald Trump, in a race that could shape Senate control.
Republican attacks have increasingly centred on his faith and identity. Rogers falsely claimed El-Sayed believed the U.S. “deserved 9/11,” which FactCheck.org rated false, and conservative groups have pushed unsupported claims that he seeks to impose Islamic law, which PolitiFact found no evidence for.
“I haven’t moved. The problems have only gotten worse,” El-Sayed said of a platform largely unchanged since his 2018 run for governor.
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