Hundreds of people came to Mumford High School to rally for U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday as part of the first major campaign rally of Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary race.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his Fighting Oligarchy tour to Detroit to stump for El-Sayed’s campaign at the Detroit high school. El-Sayed, a former Detroit and Wayne County health director, is running beside state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens.
“I grew up as Michigan as it gets,” El-Sayed told supporters on stage Sunday afternoon. “Parents worked in automotive, played football, went to UofM, became a doctor to help rebuild Detroit’s health department alongside Detroiters after politicians scrapped it.”
Most of the people inside the gymnasium waiting to hear from their preferred candidate, El-Sayed, who was backed by Sanders when he first launched his campaign, came from outside of the Northwest Detroit neighborhood.
But those who did come from the area, like James Aldridge, his wife Vanessa Aldridge and daughter, Taylor Renee Aldridge, said they were excited to hear Sanders was coming right around the corner.
“They say all politics is local, and I feel like (El-Sayed’s) done the most locally here in Detroit,” James Aldridge said.
Tomena Rawls Byrd, the chair of the Redford Township Democratic Party, said she and other members came to the event in a personal capacity to support El-Sayed.
“I’ve known Abdul since he was at Herman Keifer Hospital, and I admired him ever since,” Rawls said. “He doesn’t take corporate PAC money, doesn’t believe in the billionaires and their empty promises, he’s for healthcare for all.”
While Aldridge’s wife and daughter before El-Sayed’s remarks said they were on the fence between who to vote for between him and McMorrow, after the event, Vanessa said she and her daughter were ready to vote for El-Sayed.
McMorrow also held campaign events over the weekend at Motor City Java House near the Redford Theatre in Detroit, then another an hour later at Starters in Southfield.
Some of the people who came to McMorrow’s event on Saturday also said they were undecided, split between McMorrow and El-Sayed.
Livonia Churchill High School senior Noah Farris, 18, after asking McMorrow about her position on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told Michigan Chronicle he’s still considering both McMorrow and El-Sayed.
Farris, and his mother, Catia Monforton, both said they’re not interested in Stevens because of her values.
“I just feel a lot of centrist Democrats really just don’t know what’s going on,” Farris said.
There’s a growing progressive movement happening within the Democratic Party in Michigan following former Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat to President Donald Trump in 2024. That momentum was felt at last month’s Michigan Democratic Party endorsement convention, where progressive candidates swept their moderate opponents in races for Secretary of State, Attorney General and even university boards.
It can also be felt when Stevens shows up in public at events that are not her own. She was booed by delegates during her remarks at the convention.
During a May 1 Workers Day event at Michigan Central last week, Stevens was jeered by pro-Palestinian attendees. Stevens stands alone in her pro-Israel stance among her U.S. Senate opponents, McMorrow and El-Sayed. That position is becoming increasingly unpopular among younger voters of both political parties, according to polling.
“I’ve been very clear to people who support me, this is not about what we oppose, we may disagree with Congresswoman Stevens on a set of policies like I do, vehemently,” El-Sayed said. “The way to disagree is to make sure we build a movement that can elect somebody who sees differently.”
Another undecided voter, John Batherspoon, 39, told Michigan Chronicle at McMorrow’s event in Southfield that Democrats must win in November, “and must go all the way.”
“I’m looking for who’s going to go in there and be able to shake it up the most,” Batherspoon said.
After El-Sayed announced the Detroit Pistons defeated Orlando in the first-round game seven Sunday, he went straight into his criticism of the largest pro-Israel lobby and one of the most influential Super PACs, AIPAC.
“AIPAC is coming for my face,” El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed offered supporters inside the Mumford High School gymnasium his usual stump, which includes a call and response for his supporters, “Money out of (politics), money in your (pockets), Medicare for (all).”
El-Sayed was introduced to the stage by state Rep. Donavan McKinney, D-Detroit, who is running for Congress to unseat Rep. Shri Thanedar in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which covers parts of the city’s eastside.
“I make $71,000 a year and as a state rep., I’m still struggling,” McKinney told the crowd.
Sanders, who endorsed McKinney last year in his primary race, which now includes Detroit City Council member at-large Mary Waters, gave McKinney several shoutouts on stage during his remarks.
“Our job as progressives is not to take on Donald Trump every day,” Sanders said. “We’ve got to do that, but we have got to do more. We got to transform the Democratic Party into a party of working families who are going to stand up and fight for ordinary Americans… In a moment of national crisis, we need leaders in Washington, all the dust to take on the political establishment of both political parties… That’s why we need Abdul.”
