Detroit and Michigan deserve a senator who already knows our communities, not one who discovers them every six years. That’s, in part, why I’m supporting Dr. Abdul El-Sayed for the U.S. Senate.
I judge leaders the way I judge business partners: by their record. When Detroit came out of bankruptcy, Abdul rebuilt our Health Department. He removed lead from Detroit’s elementary schools, got free glasses to kids who couldn’t see the board, and made lifesaving Narcan widely accessible. At Wayne County, he led an effort to cancel tens of millions of dollars in medical debt for over 100,000 Metro Detroiters.
As an entrepreneur, I know what holds Black families back from building wealth. It isn’t talent or drive. It’s one medical bill that wipes out a savings account, or a would-be founder who can’t leave her job because she can’t lose her health insurance. Abdul’s fight for guaranteed health care, separate from your employer, could free a generation of Black entrepreneurs to take the leap.
He understands the kitchen table, too. He wants water billing more equitably managed with real protection against shutoffs, where they are legitimately needed and every lead pipe out of Michigan by 2030. Abdul wants teachers paid at least $60,000, and to better manage large corporations buying up homes in neighborhoods like ours, while simultaneously encouraging neighborhood investment.
His vision reaches every corner of Michigan: protecting the Great Lakes, cleaning up PFAS from Oscoda to Parchment, standing with family farmers, and keeping Michigan manufacturing built here by union workers. It’s no surprise the UAW stands with him.
On Saturday at Cass Tech, President Barack Obama addressed the attacks on Abdul’s name and faith. “We have seen this movie before,” he said. “I starred in it.” Black Michiganders know that movie well, and we should not fall for it again. The President was also honest that he and Abdul won’t agree on every detail of every issue. That’s how real coalitions work.
I don’t agree with Abdul on everything, but I am doing everything I can to support him and the Democratic Party. We must win both the House and the Senate to balance and offset the next two years of a Trump Presidency and set our country on a righted path.
My father taught me that public service is measured by who you show up for when the cameras leave. Abdul has been showing up for Detroit for years. In the Senate, he will show up for all of Michigan.
Early voting is open through November 1, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. As President Obama told us Saturday, change is in the air. Detroit and Michigan, let’s vote for it.
Dennis W. Archer Jr.
Chairman and CEO, Sixteen42 Ventures Detroit