Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said Sunday night that he understands that some Detroiters might have reservations about him because of their experiences with people who look like him, adding that he wants to be judged by his character.
Speaking to MS NOW hours after former Democratic rival Haley Stevens switched her support to Republican Mike Rogers, El-Sayed said he felt he had been consistent in his messaging as he sought to win Michigan’s open, Democratic-held U.S. Senate seat. Democrats must regain control of the House.
El-Sayed has been a frequent target of Republican criticism, including attacks on his Muslim faith and attempts to portray his political views as extremist.
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“I know that for a lot of people in the city of Detroit, their interactions with people who look like me are not very good,” El-Sayed said. “They are arrested behind bulletproof glass at a gas station or liquor store, and watch children being sold loose cigarettes.
“But I ask to be judged on the content of my character, not the color of my skin, and I hope that in the United States Senate I can be someone who brings communities together so we can build together what we cannot have alone.”
Stevens, who currently serves in the House of Representatives, insisted her decision to support Rogers was “not anti-Muslim at all” while speaking at a Detroit church on Sunday. She and El-Sayed have publicly differed on their views on the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. Gaza health authorities say the campaign has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
News week El-Sayed’s and Rogers’ campaigns were contacted for comment via email outside of normal business hours on Sunday.
Michigan’s Muslim Population: What You Need to Know
Michigan has one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States, with approximately 241,828 Muslim worshipers, which equates to approximately 2.4% of the state’s population, according to the 2020 U.S. Religious Census. The U.S. Census does not ask Americans about their religion.
The state’s Muslim population, as well as its Arab American and Middle Eastern communities, are largely concentrated around Wayne County and metro Detroit, particularly in Dearborn, which has become a focal point in the 2024 presidential election. The city’s 2020 census data showed that 54.5% of residents identified as having Middle Eastern or North African ancestry.
The communities grew over a significant period of time, including Arab migration to support Michigan’s automobile industry in the early 20th century, and later waves from Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere in the Middle East.
In 2020, President Joe Biden won Dearborn with 68.8% of the vote, compared to President Donald Trump’s 29.9%. The first Trump administration had imposed travel restrictions on several Muslim-majority countries, an issue that contributed to opposition from some Arab American voters.
In 2022, Democrats won the Michigan governorship and control of both houses of the state Legislature. In Dearborn, protests over LGBTQ+-themed school books have become a political flashpoint, with some conservative Muslim residents and Republicans calling for their removal. Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Alabas Farhat, who represented Dearborn in Congress and the House of Representatives, respectively, were both re-elected.
The 2024 elections saw a major shift, with Trump winning in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, while former Vice President Kamala Harris won in Hamtramck. Opposition to the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza played a major role in Democrats’ desertion among Muslim voters, according to a 2024 poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
El-Sayed and other Muslim Americans running for or serving in elected office have faced criticism for their views on Israel. The Democratic Senate candidate called Israel’s conduct in Gaza a genocide and said he did not support U.S. military aid to Israel.
Some Jewish organizations and political opponents have criticized his positions on Israel, but El-Sayed has condemned anti-Semitism and Hamas, while asserting that criticism of Israel and its military campaign should not be equated with hostility toward the Jewish people.
El-Sayed’s response to Stevens’ change
Earlier Sunday, despite saying in recent days that she still supports El-Sayed, Stevens said she was going to vote for Rogers, while remaining a staunch Democrat.
The move drew criticism from several Democrats, as well as strategists and commentators. El-Sayed said he wasn’t worried about Stevens but rather the 9.9 million other people in the state who weren’t her.
“Mike Rogers will be a vote for Donald Trump,” he told MS NOW. “And if you don’t believe me, just ask Donald Trump. He came here last Sunday and said he was on the ballot. In fact, he’s on the ballot as Mike Rogers, and so I’m asking people to say what are your priorities?
“If there are issues that we disagree on that are more important to you than protecting democracy, protecting the right to choose, protecting the right to a union, protecting health care, so be it,” El-Sayed said. “But if you believe in defending our democracy, in defending health care, in defending senseless attacks on our policies, our politics, frankly, our democracy, then I hope I can win your support.”
Stevens appeared on CNN about an hour after El-Sayed’s MS NOW appearance, with Anderson Cooper asking her if she thought her Democratic colleague was spreading hatred or anti-Semitism, which she said she could not support.
“I think some of those actions were definitely anti-Semitic, Anderson, but I’m just tired of who he’s standing with,” Stevens said.
Trump praised Stevens’ decision, telling Iowa reporters that he would like to see her join the GOP. He also spoke to Truth Social to congratulate the MP.
“His following is enormous and the level of respect from the people of Michigan, particularly our African American and Jewish populations, is virtually unprecedented,” Trump wrote. “Haley said what few people are willing to say. She showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the great people of Michigan with what she did. That’s called bravery, and few people have it like Congresswoman Haley Stevens just showed!”
Stevens told CNN she wanted to see Democrats hold Trump accountable, with Cooper asking her if she wanted her party to take control of the Senate.
“I absolutely do,” she said. “I’m just voting that way.” Cooper said she didn’t just vote; she launched it “very publicly”.
Stevens was repeatedly asked what changed between Saturday night, when she reportedly said she still supported El-Sayed, and Sunday morning’s announcement. She did not appear to answer the question, repeating that El-Sayed had become “increasingly angry.”
El-Sayed remains ahead in the latest polls
To take control of the Senate, Democrats must retain all of their current seats, including Michigan, and flip at least four others, with their eyes on Texas, Maine, Ohio and Kansas.
Sunday, the last vote before Election Day The New York Times/Siena was released, showing El-Sayed with a double-digit lead over Rogers, at 53 percent to 42 percent among 1,011 likely voters conducted between October 23 and November 1.
A previous YouGov poll of 2,093 voters conducted Oct. 26-29 gave El-Sayed a 4-point lead, 51 percent to 47 percent.
El-Sayed has largely led the polls since early September, with the exception of two polls affiliated with Republican sponsors.
Contact News week editors for this story: Steven Frank.
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