Michigan Senate race heats up: El-Sayed and Stevens campaign together
The former primary rivals will appear at a Detroit church event on Sunday, with less than a week left until the general election.
By Stefan Kim ·
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed will stand on stage with former primary rival Rep. Haley Stevens on Sunday in Detroit. It is their first public appearance together since the Aug. 4 primary, which El-Sayed won by a narrow margin.
South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn will also join the get-out-the-vote event at a Detroit church. Two people familiar with the plans said the gathering is part of an effort to unify the party and boost turnout among Black and Jewish voters who backed Stevens in the primary.
Divisions within the Democratic base became visible this week. Wednesday, Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish, told The Detroit News he would vote for Republican Mike Rogers. Hours later, Stevens appeared on CNN to say she would vote for El-Sayed but urged his campaign to call out the hate within their coalition.
“Make people who are in my coalition, right, make them feel comfortable about coming to the polls,” Stevens said. Concerns in Michigan’s large Jewish community have grown over El-Sayed’s criticism of Israel and his association with streamer Hasan Piker. An ad by independent left-wing group Rebellion PAC that linked U.S. support for Israel to high grocery prices added to the friction.
El-Sayed said the ad had nothing to do with his campaign. “It’s certainly not what I want to be talking about right now,” he said. Stevens and other Democrats urged him to denounce the ad’s content more directly. Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield said the temperature in the race has turned up in the final week.
Republican candidate Mike Rogers faces his own challenges. He appeared at a rally in Port Huron with President Donald Trump, who has called El-Sayed a “jihadist.” Rogers also joined Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at an event in Birmingham hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition. Cruz described antisemitism as a poison ripping the country apart.
Both campaigns are making a final push for Black voters in Detroit’s Wayne County. El-Sayed has held events in the Detroit area to increase turnout. Rogers visited a reading remediation program at a Detroit high school and spoke with residents in Pontiac about housing costs. His wife also handed out $10 gift cards at a gas station earlier this month, a move that drew criticism from local retirees.
Source: KSAT-TV
