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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said Sunday night that he understood some Detroit residents might have reservations about him based on their experiences with people who look like him, adding that he wanted to be judged on his character.
Speaking with MS NOW in the hours after former Democratic rival Haley Stevens switched her endorsement to Republican Mike Rogers, El-Sayed said he felt he had been consistent in his message as he seeks to win Michigan's open, Democratic-held U.S. Senate seat. Democrats need to take back control of the chamber.
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 too many people in the city of Detroit, their interactions with people who look like me aren't very good," El-Sayed said. "They're being catcalled behind bulletproof glass in the gas station or a liquor store, watching kids get sold loosie cigarettes.
"But I'm asking to be judged by the content of my character, not the color of my skin, and I hope that in the U.S. Senate, I can be somebody who brings communities together so that we can build together what we can't have alone."
Stevens, who currently serves in the House of Representatives, insisted that her decision to endorse Rogers was "not anti-Muslim at all" as she spoke outside a Detroit church Sunday. She and El-Sayed have publicly differed in their view on Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Gaza health authorities say the campaign has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Newsweek reached out to El-Sayed and Rogers' campaigns for comment via email outside of normal working hours Sunday.
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Michigan's Muslim Population: What to Know
Michigan has one of the largest Muslim populations in the U.S., with an estimated 241,828 Muslim adherents, equivalent to about 2.4 percent of the state's population, according to the 2020 U.S. Religion 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 the metro Detroit area, particularly in Dearborn, which became a focal point of the 2024 presidential election. The city's 2020 census data showed 54.5 percent of residents identifying as having Middle Eastern or North African ancestry.
The communities grew over a significant period of time, including Arab migration to support Michigan's auto 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 percent of the vote, compared with 29.9 percent for President Donald Trump. Trump's first administration had imposed travel restrictions on several predominantly Muslim countries, an issue that contributed to opposition among some Arab American voters.
In 2022, Democrats won the Michigan governorship and control of both chambers of the state Legislature. In Dearborn, protests over LGBTQ+-themed school library books became 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 state House, respectively, both won re-election.
The 2024 election saw a major shift, with Trump winning across 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 the shift away from Democrats among Muslim voters, according to a 2024 exit poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
El-Sayed and other Muslim Americans running for or serving in elected offices have faced pushback for their views on Israel. The Democratic Senate candidate has described Israel's conduct in Gaza as a genocide and said he does not support U.S. military assistance to Israel.
Some Jewish organizations and political opponents have criticized his positions on Israel, but El-Sayed has condemned antisemitism and Hamas, while arguing that criticism of Israel and its military campaign should not be equated with hostility toward Jewish people.
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El-Sayed's Response to Stevens' Switch
Earlier Sunday, despite saying in recent days she was still backing El-Sayed, Stevens said she was switching her vote to Rogers, while still remaining a staunch Democrat.
The move sparked criticism from several Democrats, as well as strategists and commentators. El-Sayed said he was not worried about Stevens and rather the other 9.9 million in the state who were not her.
"Mike Rogers is going to 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 that he is on the ballot. In fact, he is on the ballot in the form of Mike Rogers, and so I'm asking folks 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, then so be it," El-Sayed said. "But if you believe in defending our democracy, defending health care, defending the insane attack on our policies, our politics, frankly, our democracy, then I hope that I can earn your support."
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Stevens appeared on CNN around an hour after El-Sayed's MS NOW appearance, with Anderson Cooper asking her if she believed her fellow Democrat was spreading hate or antisemitism, which she had said she could not stand alongside.
"I think some of the actions have certainly been antisemitic, Anderson, but I am just sick of who he stands with," Stevens said.
Trump praised Stevens' decision, telling reporters in Iowa he would like to see her join the GOP. He also took to Truth Social to praise the Congresswoman.
"Her following is huge, and the level of respect from the People of Michigan, especially our African American and Jewish populations, is virtually unparalleled," 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. It’s a thing called bravery, and few people have it like just displayed by Congresswoman Haley Stevens!"
Stevens told CNN she wanted to see Democrats hold Trump accountable, with Cooper asking her if she wanted her party to win control of the Senate.
"I absolutely do," she said. "I'm just casting my vote this one way." Cooper said she was not just casting her vote; she was "very publicly" casting it.
Stevens was asked repeatedly what had changed between late Saturday, when she was reported to have said she was still supporting El-Sayed, and Sunday morning's announcement. She did not appear to answer the question, instead repeating El-Sayed had become "angrier and angrier."
El-Sayed Remains Ahead in Final Polls
To win control of the Senate, Democrats need to retain all their current seats, including the open Michigan seat, and flip at least four others, with eyes on Texas, Maine, Ohio, and Kansas.
On Sunday, the final poll before Election Day from The New York Times/Siena was released, showing El-Sayed with a double-digit lead over Rogers, at 53 percent compared to 42 percent among 1,011 likely voters conducted October 23-November 1.
A previous poll, from YouGov, conducted October 26-29 among 2,093 voters, had El-Sayed with a 4-point lead of 51 percent to 47 percent.
El-Sayed has largely been ahead in polling since early September, barring two polls affiliated with Republican sponsors.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Steven Frank.
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