PORT HURON, Mich. — Abdul El-Sayed, gripping a handheld microphone in his trademark black V-neck shirt, slowly shook his head as a woman at his town hall recounted draining her savings after emergency brain surgery.
“I’m really sorry for your experience, and I hope that you’re on the mend,” El-Sayed told her after laying out plans for guaranteed health care and paid family leave. He is the Democratic nominee challenging for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan.
Hours later, in a theater basement where he spoke with reporters, El-Sayed struck a markedly different tone. He branded Republican rival Mike Rogers a “coward,” said President Donald Trump was “afraid” to come to Michigan and called a question about whether Iran or Israel represented the greater threat to the United States “dumb.”
The contrasting moments reflected the dual nature of a candidate at the center of one of the country’s most closely watched Senate contests. If elected, El-Sayed would become the first Muslim senator in U.S. history. He is traveling across Michigan to push back against a Republican campaign, backed by tens of millions of dollars, that depicts him as a dangerous radical. At the same time, he has leaned into a combative persona, taunting Trump and Rogers from the campaign trail.
“If they want to make me the main character in the midterms, I’m not shying away from it,” El-Sayed said in an interview. “Run against me. See how well that works out for you.”
That swagger alienated some Democrats during a bitter primary campaign against Rep. Haley Stevens. Yet the former public health official has shown no inclination to soften his approach. He remains unapologetic about his progressive platform and confrontational style, energizing supporters who see him as a strong fit for an electorate angry at — and increasingly distrustful of — the political establishment.
Critics, however, worry that his approach could cost Democrats control of the Senate if he cannot bring the party’s competing factions together before November.
“If you want their votes, you have to make nice with those people, and he’s not really doing that,” said Michigan political strategist Adrian Hemond, who backed Stevens. “Maybe he doesn’t have to. The entire theory of this candidacy has been he can remake what the electorate looks like.”
Republicans target El-Sayed
Michigan has voted for Trump in two of his three presidential campaigns, but Republicans have not won a Senate race in the state since 1994.
The political environment remains difficult for the GOP this year. Trump launched an unpopular war with Iran, driving gas prices higher, while Rogers has kept a relatively low profile and held fewer public events than El-Sayed. His campaign is instead working to make the contest a referendum on the Democratic nominee.
Republicans had spent $78 million in the Michigan Senate race as of Oct. 10, compared with $63 million by Democrats, according to AdImpact, a political advertising tracker. Roughly $40 million of the Republican total went to negative ads, versus about $20 million in Democratic spending.
Those Republican ads label El-Sayed “dangerously radical” and “too extreme,” focusing on his previous calls to defund the police and loosen immigration enforcement. Other spots connect him to Hasan Piker, a popular online streamer who has faced backlash for past remarks, including his claim that “America deserved 9/11.”
On Friday, Rogers appeared with Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, who told reporters that El-Sayed “sleeps in a Bin Laden jersey.” Rogers laughed at the remark.
Vice President JD Vance has called El-Sayed “evil.” In a social media post, Trump juxtaposed a photograph of himself with first lady Melania Trump against an image of El-Sayed and his wife, who wears a hijab, alongside the caption: “Two VERY DIFFERENT America’s.”
Late Wednesday, Trump referred to El-Sayed as “Mohammed” and said he “goes back to the days of the Jihad.”
El-Sayed has responded in kind rather than retreating from the attacks. During his Port Huron campaign stop, he challenged Trump to come to Michigan and suggested that Rogers and other Republicans feared the president could damage their chances.
“Donald, if you’re watching, don’t wuss out, man,” El-Sayed said.
He also answered Kennedy’s insult with an accusation that the Republican was connected to the Ku Klux Klan.
“That’s rich coming from someone who wears his bed sheets out at night,” El-Sayed wrote on social media.
El-Sayed uses a personal touch with voters
Before the Port Huron town hall, El-Sayed worked his way down a line of people who couldn’t fit inside the theater, shaking hands, taking photos and stopping for conversations.
Jeff Petrucella and his wife Alice traveled from Macomb County to see El-Sayed. They described themselves as politically “middle of the road” and said they had voted Republican in the past.
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“I’m pretty done with the Republicans right now,” Jeff said.
Alice said she was “looking for a change that is better for my granddaughters,” pointing to El-Sayed’s support for Medicare for All. Nor was she put off by his more confrontational appearances on Fox News.
“I think he expresses himself well. You can tell he’s a well-spoken, educated man,” she said.
Pat Kreiner was among those who waited nearly an hour to see El-Sayed. Her children had persuaded her to support him in the Democratic primary.
“My son said to me, ‘I have been living with this trickle-down economy since the day I was born,’” Kreiner said. “‘It doesn’t work for me.’”
Kreiner also expressed anger about Trump’s trade war with Canada, just across the river from Port Huron.
“We are heartsick about our neighbors,” she said. “They used to come over a lot. We don’t see them now.”
Visiting smaller towns such as Port Huron has become central to El-Sayed’s campaign, with his team recently saying he’s held more than 500 events in over 100 cities across the state.
“Go everywhere. Talk to everyone. That’s what we do,” El-Sayed said in an interview.
The personal approach has not erased all the skepticism surrounding El-Sayed, including within his own party.
His criticism of Israel and association with Piker have raised concerns among some Jewish Democrats. El-Sayed has held a series of private gatherings with undecided Jewish voters as he works to win their support.
He has also sought to strengthen his standing with Black voters. In the Democratic primary, Stevens drew more support in Wayne County, home to Detroit and its large Black population.
Ahead of Thursday’s debate, El-Sayed attended two events with Black leaders before stopping at a Black barbershop, where he moved from chair to chair talking with customers. He stopped at one point to speak with a pregnant woman, congratulating her and asking when her baby was due.
“November 8th?” El-Sayed joked. “Make sure you vote early, huh?”
The race has become about more than just Michigan
While El-Sayed has spent much of his campaign trying to win over Michigan voters, his candidacy has taken on significance far beyond the state. Republicans have made him a symbol of what they warn is an increasingly radical Democratic Party, while progressives see his campaign as a chance to prove their politics can win in a closely divided state.
At a New York City fundraiser on Oct. 5, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cast his campaign as a test for progressives nationwide.
“If Abdul can win in Michigan, anybody can win anywhere,” said the New York Democrat, a potential presidential candidate.
Ocasio-Cortez plans to campaign with El-Sayed in Michigan next week, followed by former President Barack Obama on Oct. 24.
The national stakes have also drawn renewed opposition. United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC, disclosed an initial $94,000 expenditure against El-Sayed on Friday, after spending nearly $30 million to oppose him in the Democratic primary.
And El-Sayed, despite insisting the election should focus on Michigan voters and their economic struggles, has embraced the larger implications of his candidacy.
“I am grateful for your support,” he told the audience at the New York fundraiser, according to remarks obtained by The Associated Press. He said he had two goals — “pick up a U.S. Senate seat” and “change the nature of our politics for the better.”
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