Abdul El-Sayed speaks during a student meet and greet in Ann Arbor, Mich., on August 26, 2026. After a bruising Senate primary contest, El-Sayed is working to unite Michigan Democrats.
Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
FARMINGTON HILLS, MICH. — After a contentious primary last month, Michigan Democrats are trying to unify in an effort to hold a Senate seat crucial to reclaiming the majority. Healing the fractures is proving complicated.
The struggle to stitch the party back together spilled into the open again in recent days — this time as nominee Abdul El-Sayed sought to reassure wary Jewish voters, who make up a key part of the Democratic coalition in the state.
Some Jewish Democrats were already skeptical of El-Sayed, a longtime critic of Israel who skewered his primary opponent over the millions of dollars in spending on her behalf by the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.
El-Sayed speaks while Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., listen, during an event in Ann Arbor, Mich., on August 26, 2026.
Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
But for many Jewish voters, it was El-Sayed's response in March after a truck attack on the nearby Temple Israel preschool, that has remained the most agonizing. Last weekend, El-Sayed apologized for those comments and answered questions from voters at two gatherings of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus.
"I do think that there's been some movement and a shift in attitude," says caucus chair Decky Alexander, who helped organize the events. "Is it overwhelming? I don't think so. There's some people who will say 'I don't agree with him, but I'm glad he came."
Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin did not endorse in the Senate primary, but now is among the Democratic leaders trying to help the party heal and make sure that El-Sayed joins her in the Senate, rather than a Republican who she says would be beholden to President Trump.
"Good Midwesterners, good Michiganders, are pragmatists," Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. told a meeting of the Midland County Democrats in August.
Sam Gringlas/NPR
hide caption
Slotkin knows what it is like to run a tight race, where relatively small pockets of votes can shift the outcome. Two years ago, Slotkin won an open Senate seat long held by Democrats, even as Trump carried the state. She won by roughly a third of a percent of the vote.
"I know that you're encountering neighbors and people at the door who are not sure," Slotkin told a gathering of the Midland County Democrats last month. "But let me tell you there are plenty of things that I don't agree with Abdul on, but we agree on the really important stuff and that's preserving democracy and fighting for the country and state we love in a serious and principled way."
Democrats in Midland County, Mich., organized a meet and greet event with Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., at the end of August.
Sam Gringlas/NPR
hide caption
El-Sayed, a former public health official who ran on a platform of Medicare for All with the backing of progressive stars like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, won the primary by less than a percentage point. Most Michigan Democratic heavyweights backed his opponent, but have since lined up behind their nominee.
Slotkin is a moderate. El-Sayed leans much further left. Slotkin says that misses the point. She says El-Sayed, like her, is willing to buck the old ways of doing things and fight. If he wins, Slotkin notes Michigan will be the only delegation where neither senator has accepted corporate PAC money.
"These issues that we've talked about are so unifying. That is what is going to heal any schism that's there," said Lara Bell Phillips, who co-chairs the Midland County Democrats and helps marshal volunteers from a rented strip mall space decorated with campaign signs, district maps and a literal blue wall.
