Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is set to campaign in Detroit on Sunday with former primary rival Haley Stevens, in a late attempt to demonstrate party unity before the 3 November election.
The pair will appear at a get-out-the-vote event alongside South Carolina congressman Jim Clyburn, one of the Democratic Party’s most prominent Black politicians. It will be their first public appearance together since a unity event held shortly after the 4 August primary.
El-Sayed defeated Stevens by a narrow margin in the Democratic contest, but the party has struggled to unite behind him during the general election campaign. Stevens had strong backing among Black and Jewish voters, raising concerns about turnout in key parts of the state.
The planned appearance follows a week of renewed tensions. Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish, said he would vote for Republican candidate Mike Rogers, arguing that El-Sayed had not done enough to address concerns about Jewish safety.
Stevens later said on CNN that she would vote for El-Sayed, while urging his campaign to confront what she described as hateful rhetoric and make members of her coalition feel comfortable going to the polls.
“Make people who are in my coalition, right, make them feel comfortable about coming to the polls,” she said.
El-Sayed’s criticism of Israel, previous remarks and association with controversial online commentator Hasan Piker have concerned some members of Michigan’s Jewish community. The latest dispute centred on an advert from Rebellion PAC, an independent left-wing group, which linked American support for Israel to rising grocery prices.
El-Sayed said the advert had nothing to do with his campaign, but Stevens and other Democrats have called on him to condemn its contents more explicitly.
El-Sayed and Rogers target Black voters
The Democratic candidate’s appearance with Clyburn is intended to strengthen support among Black voters, particularly in Wayne County, which includes Detroit and where Stevens defeated El-Sayed in the primary.
El-Sayed has spent much of the final stage of the campaign at events in Detroit, while also visiting heavily Republican parts of Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula. His campaign has sought to broaden his appeal with an advert featuring praise from conservative figures, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
The advert has also caused unease among some Jewish voters. Rabbi Aaron Starr, of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, said the campaign had become increasingly divisive in the final week.
“Instead of things getting better over the last seven weeks, they’ve actually gotten worse,” he said.
Rogers, a former congressman, has remained closely aligned with Donald Trump and appeared with the president at a rally in Port Huron. He has also been courting Black voters through visits to Detroit and neighbouring communities, including a reading programme at a Detroit high school and discussions about housing costs in Pontiac.
Trump has repeatedly attacked El-Sayed’s Muslim faith during the campaign, while Rogers appeared this week with Texas senator Ted Cruz at a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Birmingham, Michigan.
With the Senate contest considered close, both campaigns are concentrating on turnout in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. The joint appearance by El-Sayed and Stevens is intended to reassure Democrats that their divisions will not prevent them from backing the party’s nominee.
