Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat recently received a major boost thanks to an important phone call.
The upstart progressive who defeated a more established Democratic candidate in the race for Michigan’s open Senate seat now appears to have the backing of one of the party’s most important leaders: former President Barack Obama. This comes as Obama reached out to both Democratic candidates to urge them to put on a united front against the Republican challenger in November’s election, as Democrats navigate a tricky path to retake the Senate.
Obama reaches out to El-Sayed, Stevens after fierce primary race
Politico reported that President Obama spoke by phone on Friday with Abdul El-Sayed, days after the Michigan progressive won that state’s Democratic Senate primary election. The call, according to representatives of both the Obama and El-Sayed camps, focused on unifying the Democratic Party ahead of the November general election. As Blavity previously reported, El-Sayed won a sometimes bitter primary race against Rep. Haley Stevens. As has been the narrative from multiple Democratic primaries this year, the Michigan race presented El-Sayed as a progressive against a more centrist, establishment-backed candidate in Stevens. Obama, who also called Stevens after the race, is now urging the various wings of the Democratic Party to unite as El-Sayed takes on Republican Mike Rogers, a former U.S. congressman, in the general election.
A spokesperson for El-Sayed’s campaign said the candidate and Obama had a “warm, encouraging discussion and look forward to working together to unite Democrats to win Michigan in November.” El-Sayed spoke warmly of the conversation in a statement to POLITICO, telling the news outlet of Obama “Sometimes you really should meet your heroes.” El-Sayed discussed the call during various appearances on Sunday morning political programs. He said during an appearance on Meet the Press that Obama’s “presence here in Michigan would mean so much to the coalition that helped elect him.” Obama also spoke to Stevens in a separate call; a person familiar with that conversation said Obama told Stevens that he “appreciates her focus on uniting Democrats to win Michigan in November.” Stevens, meanwhile, told Obama that he should “come to Michigan and campaign for the Democrats.”
Obama, other Democrats put aside differences in calls for unity behind El-Sayed
As noted by the New York Times, the outreach by Obama is notable, as the former president has been selective with his endorsements and support for Democratic candidates. Though Obama did not endorse either candidate in the Democratic primary, the former president’s name came up during the primary race. Stevens touted her history of working with Obama when she served as chief of staff of the president’s auto task force, which ultimately resulted in government bailouts for Chrysler and General Motors. The Stevens campaign strongly promoted a 2018 clip of Obama saying that Stevens “was a critical part of my team that helped the American auto industry come roaring back,” a message that was intended to appeal to a state that relies heavily on the car industry. El-Sayed, meanwhile, has often been compared to Obama for his inspirational oration and for his identity as the son of an African immigrant; El-Sayed’s father came to the United States from Egypt, while Obama’s father came from Kenya to study in the United States. However, El-Sayed has been critical of President Obama in the past, saying in 2017 that while he was “very thankful” for Obama’s impact on politics, there were “a lot of things I disagree with President Obama on — in terms of both domestic and, certainly, international politics. I’m not him, and I have no intention of being him.” El-Sayed is currently focusing on Obama’s positive impact on his own political career, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper “I never saw myself in politics until I saw him give that 2004 speech on the DNC floor” in reference to Obama’s famous Democratic National Committee speech.
Politico and the New York Times reported that El-Sayed’s call with Obama was the latest example of high-profile Democrats connecting with the Michigan Senate candidate. Since winning the primary, El-Sayed has spoken with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who has formally endorsed El-Sayed in his race against Rogers. El-Sayed also spoke with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, another popular progressive Democrat as well as one of the most high-profile Muslim politicians in the Democratic Party. Other politicians who have reached out and spoken to El-Sayed include Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. El-Sayed also spoke with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), who had backed Stevens against El-Sayed in the primary. “I said to him, ‘I don’t need you to like me,'” Schumer recounted from the conversation. “‘I just need you to win.'”
In order to win, El-Sayed will need to repair any relationships that remain frayed between the progressive and centrist wings of the Democratic Party in Michigan. The recent call with Obama and the apparent support from the popular former president is a significant boost to this effort to unify the party behind El-Sayed as he attempts to win a crucial Senate race for Democrats in November.