Who Is Abdul El-Sayed? Meet Michigan Democrats' Socialist Senate Candidate

Who Is Abdul El-Sayed? Meet Michigan Democrats' Socialist Senate Candidate

On the menu today: After watching former Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner's campaign go about as horribly as it possibly could have, some Democrats may well be having second thoughts about the latest table-pounding radical to come down the pike. Up until recently, Abdul El-Sayed looked like the safer bet in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary; the winner takes on Mike Rogers in what may well be the GOP's best shot at picking up a currently Democratic Senate seat.

No, the candidate who's really thrilling DSA hearts, and who they're really pulling for, is Abdul El-Sayed, one of two leading Democrats competing for the nomination to succeed retiring Senator Gary Peters in Michigan's U.S. Senate race, with the primary set for August 4, 2026.

His rival is Democratic Representative Haley Stevens.

Still, El-Sayed is indeed the more radical of the two remaining options for Democrats in this primary.

El-Sayed insists that like Platner, he is not a Democratic Socialist; it's apparently just a giant coincidence that the Democratic Socialists of America has "already shifted organizers, volunteers and resources toward battleground Michigan." He's been endorsed by socialist Bernie Sanders and current and former DSA members of Congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, and Summer Lee, as well as Representative Ilhan Omar.