U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a leader in the progressive movement nationally and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, is campaigning in Michigan Oct. 15-16 with the Democratic nominee for the state's open U.S. Senate seat,former Wayne County and Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed.
And they're not confining their efforts to metro Detroit.
Instead, they're on a bus tour of the Upper Peninsula Oct. 15, beginning with a noon event in Escanaba, to be followed with those in Iron Mountain at 3 p.m. and another at 6:30 p.m. in Marquette.
On Friday, Oct. 16, they're headed, along with U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, to events in southeastern Michigan, with rallies in Pontiac at noon, Dearborn at 3 p.m. and a Latinos
for Abdul event in Detroit set for 6:30 p.m., with U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor joining them at that last one.
Locations were not provided for the events, which Ocasio-Cortez's organization said are public. Some events are listed at mobilize.us/abdulforsenate/. El-Sayed's campaign did not immediately respond to a question about locations and how members of the public could still attend.
El-Sayed, a progressive firebrand, is running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, facing Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers in what is considered a tossup race. El-Sayed has in recent pollingstaked out a clear but narrow lead. But a decision by him and Ocasio-Cortez to campaign in the Upper Peninsula − a staunchly Republican-leaning area for more than a decade now − may suggest they are trying to widen their base of support.
“Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has been a beacon in Congress for taking on the powerful on behalf of everyday people. She’s shown all of us what courageous, sharp, values-driven leadership looks like,” said El-Sayed. “She was a critical partner in the (Democratic) primary, and I look forward to campaigning with her."
Ocasio-Cortez said El-Sayed "has built a winning coalition with an agenda to bring down costs for Michigan families and I could not be more excited to join him for the final stretch of this race. Once he’s in Washington, I look forward to working with Abdul to guarantee healthcare as a human right for all Americans and to build a politics that is free from the corrupting influence of corporate money.”
Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont campaigned previously for El-Sayed in Michigan ahead of the August Democratic primary.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ocasio-Cortez campaigns with El-Sayed in Michigan's Upper Peninsula
