Welcome to the 2026 voter guide for Michigan's Aug. 4 primary election. The voter guide ‒ separate from the Detroit Free Press' news coverage and the Detroit Free Press Editorial Board's endorsements ‒ offers
candidates the chance to communicate with voters in their own words. We remove entries that include false or unverifiable statements, personal attacks on other candidates or foul language, but responses are otherwise unedited.
El-Sayed's GOP opponent, Mike Rogers, did not return the Free Press Voter Guide questionnaire. Use this link to visit our Voter Guide.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed
Candidate for U.S. Senate, Democrat
Age: 41
What is your current occupation? Please share any other work experience relevant to the role you are seeking.
I am a former public health official, having led both Detroit and Wayne County’s Health Departments, where we eliminated lead from public schools, secured free glasses for kids, and spearheaded a program to eliminate up to $700 million in medical debt for 300,000
Do you have previous political experience? If yes, please describe.
Though I have never held elected office, I have been appointed to serve in two public servant roles: the City of Detroit’s Health Director, and Wayne County’s Director of Health, Human, and Veterans services. I also ran for governor in 2018.
What should be the United States’ top foreign policy priority over the next six years, and where do you believe American military power has been overused or underused?
I believe in international law, and that we should be the first among equals to enforce it. But for too long, we have been among the first to break it. We are funding weapons for genocidal regimes abroad while our schools, hospitals and roads at home have been left to decay. We should make it our top priority to orient the United States’s foreign policy around peace, ending the illegal and immoral war in Iran, strictly enforcing the Leahy Laws, and ensuring that military assistance we provide is aligned with international law, rather than making exceptions for countries committing human rights atrocities. Our diplomacy should be rooted in seeking peace and open collaboration by reestablishing USAID and reentering institutions of global cooperation, such as the World Health Organization, in pursuit of cementing our nation as a leader among equals for shared rights.
What changes, if any, would you make to federal immigration law, border security and asylum policy? Please identify one proposal you would support even if it would anger your own party.
Our current immigration system treats any and all immigrants seeking a better life in our country as threats, rather than with dignity and respect. I believe in a safe, secure southern border and respect for immigration law—as well as a clear pathway to citizenship. The most consequential symptom of our misalignment on immigration is ICE, which has become a paramilitary force and set above the law. ICE has violently terrorized our communities and split families apart. I have been calling for the abolition of ICE since 2018 because I recognized the danger, and Trump’s weaponization of it has only cemented that belief. It should be replaced with an alternative enforcement mechanism that treats folks with the same respect afforded to everyone in America. We should also restructure CBP to focus on keeping our border secure rather than demonizing folks on the street, while investing in the legal infrastructure we need for a pathway to citizenship.
Michigan’s economy depends on autos, manufacturing, trade and union labor. What federal policy would you pursue to protect Michigan jobs while keeping the state competitive in a changing global economy?
I believe NAFTA and USMCA have been a disaster for working people, flattening industry at home and offshoring jobs that should have stayed in Michigan. We must renegotiate our trade deals to center labor. I support targeted tariffs deployed in a steady, thoughtful, and transparent way to incubate legacy and emerging manufacturing industries here at home. None of this is possible without thriving unions that empower workers to fight for what they need to live healthy and meaningful lives. As Senator, I will be proud to co-sponsor the PRO Act, a critical step to protect workers from retaliation, allow gig workers to unionize, and give real teeth to labor law enforcement. Finally, we must rethink the financial incentives that leave CEOs more interested in the next quarter’s stock price than the long term health of their companies. That means putting union representatives on boards, banning stock buybacks, and locking up executive stocks for 10 years after they leave their companies.
What should Congress do to lower costs for Michigan families, particularly on housing, health care, groceries, energy and child care? Please name the first bill you would sponsor or co-sponsor.
We must ban corporations from buying off politicians through PAC donations that leave them rigging the system against us. As prices go up, we should empower Michiganders, rather than giving more leeway to corporations to pick our pockets. One of our biggest assets in this fight is the Federal Trade Commission, which we should bolster to prevent companies from consolidating and colluding to raise prices. I believe in universal childcare and a massive increase in housing investments to reduce the price of rental and homeownership. Finally, healthcare is one of the fastest growing costs in Americans’ lives, which is why Medicare for All is a central part of my campaign, and I will be proud to make it the first bill I co-sponsor in Congress. Medicare for All is the only way to truly fix our broken healthcare system. Eliminating extreme out-of-pocket costs and guaranteeing coverage would pull millions of Americans out of the trap of medical debt, which we should eliminate entirely.
How would you approach federal spending and the national debt? Identify one major area of federal spending you would reduce, reform or protect from cuts.
Responsible fiscal policy is not about slashing programs with no regard for their function – we’ve seen how Elon’s DOGE has played out, and it’s completely disrupted our government’s ability to provide for Michiganders. We need to tax billionaires their wealth to create trillions in new revenue for critical programs. We need to curb our over-inflated military budget that is being spent to make war that only makes us less safe and raises our energy prices. I oppose any and all cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs that folks need to get by, and believe we need more investment in programs that support Americans in their daily lives, such as childcare, paid leave, and Medicare for All.
What role should the federal government play in abortion, contraception and reproductive health care after the fall of Roe v. Wade? Should Congress set a national standard, and if so, what should it be?
Healthcare choices belong to a patient and their doctor and true reproductive choice must be accessible to all. I will cosponsor the Women's Health Protection Act to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law and will oppose any attempts to enact a national abortion ban. I am committed to repealing the discriminatory Hyde Amendment that blocks federal Medicaid funding for abortion services. I’ll vigorously defend funding for Planned Parenthood and other vital reproductive health centers, while opposing the direction of funds to deceptive anti-abortion "crisis pregnancy centers." Additionally, I will defend the right to family planning by cosponsoring the Right to Contraception Act. I will protect access to abortion medications like mifepristone by assuring that science, and only science, sets the standard by which we decide what medications are safe. As a champion for Medicare for All, I will work to guarantee that comprehensive reproductive healthcare is fully covered for every American.
The Senate has become a place where nominees, budgets and major legislation often stall because of partisan warfare. What Senate rule, norm or practice would you change to make the chamber function better, and what would you preserve?
We need to eliminate the Senate filibuster. It has only functioned as a roadblock to progress, causing intense partisan gridlock rather than facilitating compromise. It allows politicians afraid to take tough votes to hide from their constituents. But we cannot talk about reform without highlighting the influence of corporate money in our politics. You can count on your hand the number of Senators who have never taken corporate PAC money, and I’ll be proud to join that list when I make it to the senate. We need to pass legislation that prohibits members of congress from accepting corporate PAC money and bars them from trading individual stock. Without ridding the congress of dark money and corporate interests, it will not truly represent the people.
Health care costs continue to strain families, employers and government budgets. Do you believe Congress should pursue incremental reforms, such as lowering prescription drug prices and expanding subsidies, or sweeping changes, such as a public option or Medicare for All? What model would you support, and how would you pay for it?
As a doctor and former public health official, one of the first pieces of legislation I will sponsor in the US Senate is a bill to enact Medicare for All and eliminate medical debt nationwide. I spent my career fighting to fix our healthcare system and even wrote the book "Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide" to help folks understand how we can achieve a healthcare system that works for everyone. Beyond introducing legislation, I will use this office as a platform to change the conversation about healthcare in America and continue to galvanize a movement to elect leaders across the country who support Medicare for All. We already pay massive amounts of money for healthcare, but we pay it into corporate insurers rather than into a truly universal system. Medicare for All would reduce our overall costs while providing truly universal, durable coverage with no out-of-pocket costs or coverage drops.
Presidents of both parties have increasingly used executive orders to bypass Congress, and President Donald Trump has tested the limits of executive power through emergency declarations, aggressive agency action and attempts to pressure independent institutions. What specific limits should Congress place on presidential power, and where would you be willing to challenge Trump (or a president from your own party)?
Congress holds numerous checks over the executive branch that Congress has either weakly enforced or not utilized at all. My role as a U.S. Senator will be to throw sand in the gears of the Trump administration whenever possible to ensure that authoritarianism cannot creep further into our government. I will lead efforts to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which has allowed Trump to lead us into wars of aggression and raise prices on everyday goods, and wield my nomination powers to block the appointment of any nominee who swears blanket loyalty to the Trump administration. I also believe we must reform the presidential pardon and appoint oversight boards over critical organizations like the CDC to protect them from political games.
A measure to call a state Constitutional Convention is on this year's ballot. Do you plan to vote in favor of a con-con?
No
How to vote
Local clerks mailed absentee ballots to Michigan voters Sept. 24. Registered voters may cast ballots early, in person, across the state from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1 ‒ check with your local clerk for your city's early voting start date, location of early voting sites and absentee ballot dropboxes. And, of course, you can vote ‒ and register to vote ‒ in person on Nov. 3, Election Day.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Where U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed stands on Iran, Trump, more
