DETROIT — Michigan U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed said Tuesday that he wants Kamala Harris' midterm campaign stop in Detroit to unify Democrats in the key swing state where their party's factions were on full display in a hotly contested primary earlier this year — and in Harris' 2024 presidential defeat.
“We're building an electoral coalition here,” El-Sayed said, speaking about the economy hours ahead of a planned appearance with the former vice president.
An unapologetic progressive, El-Sayed downplayed his differences with Harris over the Biden administration's support for U.S. military aid to Israel. El-Sayed has called Israel's military actions in Gaza a genocide against Palestinians. Israel rejects that position, but it aligns El-Sayed with many voters in Michigan's large Arab American community and with progressives who withheld their votes from Harris in 2024, when the state tipped narrowly to Republican Donald Trump.
That election “ended where it did because we could not find the places of agreement to be able to bring people together or move in the direction that we need to move,” El-Sayed said, emphasizing that he and Harris both want to help voters who are struggling economically.
Harris, the first Black vice president, remains popular among Black voters who anchor the Democratic base in Detroit and who leaned in favor of El-Sayed's primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, in the August primary. El-Sayed said Harris, who will attend a roundtable on Black maternal health with him and separately join an event hosted by the Detroit chapter of the NAACP, is a critical advocate in helping him close ranks as he tries to defeat Republican Mike Rogers.
“Her presence here speaking to communities that were really empowered by her voice throughout her political career, I think will help us to continue to bring our coalition together,” El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed vs. Rogers is a critical contest for Senate control
The Democrat's matchup against Rogers, a former congressman, will help determine control of the Senate for the final two years of Trump's presidency. If Democrats hold the seat, which was opened by Sen. Gary Peters' announced retirement, they'd still need to win at least four more currently held by Republicans to flip the chamber. A Rogers victory would narrow Democrats' path to a majority.
Rogers’ campaign framed Harris’ visit as a sign of weakness for both Democrats.
“Abdul is so desperate that he’s parachuting Kamala Harris into Michigan to save his flailing campaign,” said Alyssa Brouillet, Rogers’ spokesperson.
Rogers has been campaigning in Detroit, a predominantly Black city where his campaign is optimistic he can pick up support from voters hesitant to support El-Sayed.
Black voters could prove especially critical as El-Sayed also faces pressure among white Jewish voters who typically back Democrats.
“Jews in Michigan are currently scared” by their Senate options, said Barry Goodman, a Democratic National Committee member and major Michigan fundraiser in the party. Goodman backed Stevens in the primary.
The race is also seen as another referendum on progressives' viability in battleground races. El-Sayed is running to the left of the Democratic Party establishment, including advocating for universal healthcare.
Goodman described himself and many other Jewish Democrats as "holding our noses and voting for Abdul" because they "believe in the Democratic ticket and they believe that one man can help win the Senate but can't destroy the Senate." Other moderates, Goodman said, are still deciding whether to back Rogers or sit out the Senate race.
El-Sayed has attempted to soften his approach on Israel and Gaza. He has apologized for some past controversial comments and said he is committed to Jewish safety.
Michigan will also be a key state for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary
For Harris, the trip comes as questions swirl about her intentions to run for president again. Under the Democratic National Committee's recently revised nominating calendar, Michigan now will hold the fifth presidential preference primary in 2028.
It's unclear whether Harris will use the trip to restate or recalibrate her past statements on Israel. But campaigning with El-Sayed is notable, nonetheless, given her past tensions with Democrats' left flank.
“She probably figures she won't lose her establishment folks, so maybe she makes gains to her left,” Goodman said.
Harris has said she’s in no rush to announce whether she will run in 2028. But ahead of Election Day this November, she also has campaign stops planned in Nevada and Georgia, two other important states on the political map.
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GaNun is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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Barrow reported from Atlanta.
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