Can Abdul El-Sayed be beaten? The answer to that question might determine which party controls the Senate and reveal a winning strategy in the 2028 presidential battleground state.
As the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat sticks to his progressive populist platform and rides rising antiestablishment fervor, El-Sayed’s opponents still struggle to slow him down.
The public got another look at why when he joined Fox News host Jesse Watters for a lengthy interview on Monday. He dodged a question about transgender surgeries for minors, instead asking Watters if he is circumcised. He deflected another about sharia law, pointing out that no one dreads the spread of Catholic canon law. And when asked about his support for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), he answered that voters are more worried about the price of gas and groceries—a line he deployed deftly time and again.
With responses as sharp-tongued as these, it is easy to see how El-Sayed fought his party’s establishment on his way to a narrow victory in Michigan’s August 4 primary. Many of the state’s prominent Democrats, including Governor Gretchen Whitmer, threw their support behind El-Sayed’s opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, in the final days of the race. Outside money also flooded in, as AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spent upward of $30 million against his candidacy. But none of it was enough.
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