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By Anna Rahmanan
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Michigan's voters face a choice in Tuesday's Senate election between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers, with some lifelong Jewish Democrats considering voting for a candidate whose rhetoric they regard as antisemitic rather than supporting a Republican whose politics they oppose.
For others, concerns about El-Sayed have become serious enough to make them reconsider their longstanding Democratic allegiance. Interviews with Jewish residents and community leaders reveal differing views about how to weigh antisemitism, personal safety, Israel and domestic political priorities, amid a growing sense of alienation from political spaces they once considered home.
Those divisions spilled into the open on Sunday when Democratic Representative Haley Stevens, who narrowly lost the Senate primary to El-Sayed, endorsed Rogers just two days before the election. The extraordinary break followed a dispute over an advertisement linking U.S. support for Israel to grocery prices and Stevens' objections to El-Sayed's response. Her endorsement drew sharp criticism from fellow Democrats, underscoring how disagreements over Israel have strained party unity.
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"Ever since the Michigan Democratic Convention back in April, I have felt politically homeless," Regina Hayut, a lifelong Democrat from Ann Arbor, told Newsweek.
The tensions extend beyond the candidates themselves. Some Jewish Democrats say they increasingly encounter hostility toward their Jewish identity and connection to Israel in progressive circles, even when they are critical of Israeli government policy. Others argue that protecting democracy, reproductive rights and economic security remains paramount, regardless of their disagreements with El-Sayed.
Jewish Democrats Confront Questions About Antisemitism
The divisions have become especially visible in Michigan's Senate contest.
El-Sayed's criticism of Israel and his response to the March attack on Temple Israel, a synagogue and childcare center in West Bloomfield, have drawn objections from Jewish Democrats. After initially referring to a broader cycle of violence following the attack, El-Sayed apologized in August, saying he had never intended to justify the violence.
For Hayut, the controversy comes amid a broader deterioration in her sense of political belonging.
She said she once felt comfortable openly identifying as Jewish in Ann Arbor but has become increasingly troubled by rhetoric she considers antisemitic at progressive demonstrations and Democratic gatherings since Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
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Her experience highlights a distinction running through the interviews: disagreement with Israeli government policy does not necessarily explain why some Jewish Democrats feel alienated. Their concerns also involve how Jews, Zionists and Jewish Americans' connections to Israel are discussed within their political communities.
Beth Bashert, another Michigan Democrat, described a similar change.
"Working in Democratic spaces I go in with armor on ready to hear something that's offensive, hurtful or hateful," she told Newsweek.
Yet Bashert intends to vote for El-Sayed despite serious objections to his position on Israel.
"I am voting for him because my concerns about democracy are even greater than my concerns about this one stance of his, however important it is to me," she said.
Her decision illustrates the difficult calculation facing some Jewish Democrats: how to weigh concerns about a candidate's rhetoric against other issues they consider equally or more consequential.
An Advertisement Intensifies the Dispute
The controversy sharpened in late October when Rebellion PAC, an independent group associated with progressive commentator Cenk Uygur, released an advertisement supporting El-Sayed that linked American grocery costs to U.S. military support for Israel.
The advertisement portrayed shoppers discussing grocery prices before suggesting that American money was being used to fund violence against Palestinians. Critics accused the group of invoking antisemitic tropes by blaming Israel for Americans' economic difficulties.
El-Sayed's campaign distanced itself from the advertisement, which was produced independently. Rebellion PAC defended its message as criticism of U.S. foreign spending and support for Israel.
For some Jewish Democrats, the controversy deepened concerns about El-Sayed's own rhetoric and his willingness to confront antisemitism among his supporters. They regarded the advertisement as invoking antisemitic stereotypes about Jewish influence over American finances, and questioned whether his response sufficiently acknowledged the harm.
Those concerns were shared by some voters who nevertheless intended to support him. Their objections did not necessarily change their votes, but they added to a growing sense of alienation from a party they had supported for decades.
The dispute also exposed differences within Michigan's Jewish community. A group of Jewish supporters, including former Democratic Senator Al Franken, endorsed El-Sayed in September. Their letter acknowledged concerns about his Israel positions while arguing that his approach reflected a broader commitment to consistent human rights standards.
Jewish Safety Becomes a Political Priority
The debate has unfolded against a backdrop of immediate security concerns.
On March 12, the FBI described the attack on Temple Israel as targeted violence against the Jewish community.
Steven Ingber, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, said security has become an unavoidable consideration for Jewish residents.
"We must be able to gather, pray and educate our children in safety, and we expect those who seek public office to prioritize these concerns," he told Newsweek.
Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield described how fear has affected ordinary expressions of Jewish identity.
"Some men are covering their yarmulkes with baseball hats. Some college students are tucking in their Jewish star necklaces," he told Newsweek.
Starr helped establish Nonnegotiable Michigan, a movement advocating for Jewish safety, opposition to antisemitism and recognition of Jewish identity and the right of Jewish Zionists to participate fully in public life.
For some residents, the question is whether their political communities will recognize antisemitism as seriously as other forms of discrimination.
A Community Divided Over How to Vote
Eileen Freed, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, said Jewish residents are reaching different conclusions about the election.
Some lifelong Democrats are considering Rogers despite disagreements with Republican policies while others plan to vote for El-Sayed because they prioritize reproductive rights, economic policy and Democratic control of the Senate.
"Many life-long Democrats are struggling with the choices in this race, and many are feeling alienated from the Democratic Party," Freed told Newsweek.
She also warned against treating Jewish voters as a single-issue constituency.
"I do not think you can say that 'Jewish voters' in Michigan are increasingly prioritizing Israel and antisemitism over everyday concerns," she said.
Joan Lowenstein, an Ann Arbor Democrat, emphasized the economic questions shaping her vote.
"The issues that matter to me are whether people have jobs and whether even the people with good jobs can afford housing and healthcare," she said.
The competing priorities are playing out in a community with longstanding Democratic ties. A Brandeis University study estimated that 61 percent of Jewish adults in Michigan identified with or leaned toward the Democratic Party, compared with 31 percent who identified with or leaned Republican.
The political divisions are also evident among elected Democrats. Former Michigan Representative Andy Levin has campaigned for El-Sayed, arguing that Jewish and Muslim Americans share an interest in protecting one another's safety.
The interviews offer no basis for predicting how Jewish Michiganders as a whole will vote but they show that some Democrats are prepared to support a candidate whose rhetoric they deeply distrust, while others regard their concerns as sufficient reason to reconsider a lifelong political allegiance.
Stevens' endorsement has made that divide impossible for Michigan Democrats to ignore. Tuesday's election will determine who represents the state in the Senate, but the longer term question is whether a party that has counted on Jewish voters for generations can address their concerns about antisemitism while maintaining a coalition deeply divided over Israel. For voters such as Bashert and Hayut, the decision at the ballot box may come before any resolution of where they feel politically at home.
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