The U.S. Senate race between progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers is one of the most-watched Michigan races in recent years. Not only does it hold major implications for control of the Senate, it also serves as a testing ground for Democrats divided over the future of the party, and the viability of progressive candidates.
The Detroit Free Press Editorial Board analyzed both candidates’ campaigns to make an endorsement in the race. We interviewed El-Sayed on his positions on various important election issues as part of this process. Rogers did not respond to multiple attempts to schedule an endorsement interview before our publication deadline.
Here are five reasons we endorsed El-Sayed.
El-Sayed or Mike Rogers? Freep's pick in U.S. Senate race | Endorsement
El-Sayed challenges the status quo with optimism
One thing that stands out about El-Sayed? He’s refreshingly optimistic. His message to voters centers around the idea that the status quo can change, that government can work for the people. El-Sayed is a capitalist who champions universal health care, views foreign policy through an America-first lens and believes corporate spending in politics must end. Instead of a campaign based on fearmongering – like voters may have seen from his opponent – El-Sayed brings actual ideas that tap into voters’ frustration with a government that takes more than it delivers. He offers solutions; and with that, he offers the hope and the optimism that's rarely seen but desperately needed in American politics of today.
Michigan voters respond to his ideas
Even if you try, it’s hard to avoid El-Sayed these days. Unlike Rogers, who skipped our endorsement interview just like a recent Fox 2 debate, El-Sayed seems to be everywhere; he connects with voters face-to-face, sits through interviews on TV (he even joined Jesse Watters on Fox News) and is active on social media. One thing is true: El-Sayed runs a voter-driven campaign, with ideas rooted in public sentiment. While his opponent paints him an extremist, El-Sayed offers ideas – like universal health care – that have gained support among Michigan residents as solutions to the real-life challenges they're feeling every day.
El-Sayed fits Michigan's tradition of public service
Michigan has a long history of electing exemplary public servants to the U.S. Senate, lawmakers who placed service before politics to represent Michigan’s ideological spectrum. El-Sayed’s history suggests he'd take after these leaders. He earned a medical degree at Columbia University before concluding that our health challenges require systemic solutions. Since returning to Michigan in 2015, El-Sayed has proven his dedication to public service through positions like directing Detroit's Health Department, ran for governor in 2018 and led Wayne County's Health, Human and Veteran Services Department before leaving to run for this seat.
He's made mistakes, but listens and learns
El-Sayed’s campaign hasn’t been flawless, but he brings a desirable quality rarely seen in U.S. politics anymore: the ability to listen, learn ‒ and apologize. An example: After the March 12 attack on West Bloomfield’s Temple Israel, El-Sayed posted a video that denounced the attack in unequivocal terms. Still, for some voters one phrase leapt out as he traced the cycle of violence: “Hurt people hurt people.” El-Sayed addressed the backlash that followed during his endorsement interview: “I listened to communities of folks who told me, ‘Listen, when you said that thing about ‘hurt people hurt people,’ it felt like you were putting [an] asterisk on our pain. I thought about it, and I was like, ‘I think you’re right. I understand why you felt that way, and I was wrong.’ So I apologized, and I’d like to not make that mistake again.”
Mike Rogers would be a disaster
El-Sayed, with his mix of mainstream and progressive agenda, is the U.S. senator Michigan needs right now – especially when compared to the alternative. Rogers is a vocal supporter of an administration that is actively threatening the rights of Michiganders, working to delegitimize LGBTQ+ Americans, strip the contributions of Black and Brown Americans from our national history, restrict the rights of women to access not just abortion but contraception, deport millions of Americans and conducting an immigration enforcement program that has led to the unjust killings of American citizens. Rogers' own politics are discouraging, and we find no indication that he would check Trump’s romp through the rule of law. For Michiganders, that ought to be sufficient reason to choose El-Sayed.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 5 reasons Freep endorsed Abdul El-Sayed for U.S. Senate I Opinion
