Anti-Israel Michigan Senate Candidate Trails in Early Polling

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat and outspoken critic of Israel running for the US Senate, is trailing in new polling within the state of Michigan and performing the worst among all candidates when paired against leading Republican contender Mike Rogers. 

In a hypothetical matchup against Rogers, El-Sayed would only command 40.1 percent of the vote, according to polling released by the Detroit Regional Chamber in partnership with the Glengariff Group. Rogers would win 46.9 percent of Michigan voters. Comparatively, pro-Israel Democratic candidate Haley Stevens leads Rodgers in the poll by a margin of 45.2 percent to 43.8 percent. 

El-Sayed also trails Stevens in the Senate Democratic primary, according to the poll. El-Sayed would win 22.2 percent of Michigan Democratic primary voters. Stevens, who describes herself as a “stalwart supporter of the Jewish state,” currently holds a comfortable lead in the contest, commanding 34.3 percent of primary voters. 

El-Sayed launched a Senate campaign last month, saying that Congress should “fight back” against the Trump administration. The child of an Egyptian immigrant, he first emerged onto the national political landscape in 2018 when he launched an ultimately unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in the Wolverine State. During that campaign, El-Sayed received endorsements from fellow progressive stalwarts Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). 

El-Sayed has also positioned himself as a fierce critic of Israel. The progressive champion was a prominent supporter of the “Uncommitted movement,” a coalition of Democratic officials which refused to support the 2024 Kamala Harris presidential campaign over her support for Israel. However, El-Sayed later clarified that he would support Harris over Donald Trump in the general election.  

The Senate hopeful has been especially critical of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. On Oct. 21, 2023, two weeks after the Hamas-led slaughter of 1,200 people in southern Israel, the progressive politician accused Israel of “genocide.” He also compared Israel’s defensive military operations to the Hamas terrorist group’s conduct on Oct. 7, 2023, writing, “You can both condemn Hamas terrorism AND Israel’s murder since.”

In comments to Politico, El-Sayed criticized Democrats’ handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, arguing that Democrats should become the “party of peace and justice” and said that they “ought not to be the party sending bombs and money to foreign militaries to drop bombs on other people’s kids in their schools and their hospitals.”

Some observers have argued that El-Sayed’s Egyptian heritage and critical views of Israel could buoy him in Michigan, a state with a significant Arab American and Muslim population.

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