Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Back Abdul El-Sayed in Aug. 4 Michigan Senate Test
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 26
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Back Abdul El-Sayed in Aug. 4 Michigan Senate Test
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 26
Summary
Hundreds packed Detroit’s 104-year-old Opera House as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cast Abdul El-Sayed as the Democratic Party’s future ahead of Michigan’s Aug. 4 Senate primary.
El-Sayed is running on Medicare for All, a billionaire wealth tax and rejecting corporate money, trying to turn voter anger over healthcare, groceries, gas and housing into support in a must-win battleground seat.
The race is tight against centrist Representative Haley Stevens, who has backing from Governor Gretchen Whitmer, outgoing Senator Gary Peters and nearly $30 million in AIPAC support.
Michigan’s large Arab-American electorate makes Israel a major fault line: El-Sayed calls Gaza a genocide and opposes unconditional US aid, while Stevens supports continuing aid.
The contest has become a broader test of whether progressive Democrats can win working-class Midwestern voters and then reunite a party still split after its 2024 losses.