LANSING, MI — At their last convention before the midterm election, Michigan Democrats celebrated a high-turnout primary they say portends a blue wave this fall as the party tries to keep control of key statewide and federal offices with a ticket that offers both continuation and change.
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel called the gap between Democratic and Republican voter participation of more than half a million votes in the recent August election "the biggest difference in the history of Michigan." He rallied party loyalists gathered Saturday, Aug. 29 ahead of an election the party has characterized as a referendum on President Donald Trump that has seen Democrats focused on cost-of-living challenges they blame on the White House.
After the Michigan GOP convention the previous week that featured little talk of Trump amid the president's dismal approval numbers, Democrats hammered hard on the president and described their Republican opponents as tied to him.
"Never seen one of Donald Trump's shoes he wasn't willing to lick," U.S. Senate nominee and former health official Abdul El-Sayed said of Trump-endorsed GOP nominee former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson – Democrats' pick for governor – said GOP gubernatorial nominee U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township does Trump's bidding. "No matter what that means for the people of Michigan," she said.
Benson – along with Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, who hopes to replace her as the next secretary of state – already hold top statewide offices as they ask voters to promote them to new roles. Meanwhile, in the U.S. Senate race, El-Sayed is a progressive insurgent representing a break from the more moderate Democratic senators who have represented Michigan for years.
The electoral landscape in the state has shifted since 2018, when voters last weighed in on open races for all of the top statewide offices of governor, attorney general and secretary of state. Then, Democrats ran to replace Republicans in power and rode an anti-Trump wave.
More recently, rifts have emerged within the party over U.S. foreign policy toward Israel as it grapples with an ideological shift in its base. Democrats' sympathies have moved dramatically toward Palestinians in the wake of Israel's military campaign in Gaza following the 2023 Hamas-led attack, according to Gallup surveys.
El-Sayed has put criticism of U.S. military aid for Israel at the center of his campaign, tying the spending abroad to a failure to tackle cost-of-living challenges at home. It's an argument he made again at the convention.
But he has angered some Democrats who have taken issue with his campaigning with controversial internet personality Hasan Piker, who has faced accusations of anti-Semitism. "This is not a campaign that is about a single streamer in California. This is about affordability in Michigan," El-Sayed told reporters at the convention.
In 2018, El-Sayed suffered a big loss to now-Gov. Gretechen Whitmer in a Democratic bid for governor. Now, one of his most prominent Democratic backers this cycle – U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York – said El-Sayed "represents the politics of the future" at a Detroit rally ahead of his primary win.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin celebrated Michigan Democrats coming together after El-Sayed's primary against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham. "That was a really nasty primary. It was really divisive. It was a lot of money spent there, and I didn't think that I would see the party unify as quickly as it did," he said in a recent phone interview. Hertel said on the convention stage that a photo of El-Sayed and Stevens hugging after the primary "was sent around the world."
While the Democratic ticket came together again at the convention, it remains unclear when those seeking the top offices will come together again. Asked when she next expects to share a stage with El-Sayed, Benson told reporters, "I already have. We have many times and you'll have to ask my team what my schedule is beyond that."
One Democratic delegate, Janelle Franke, 55, of Middleville, said she feels "very optimistic" about Democrats' chances this fall. As she stares down a big-stakes November election, she reflected on El-Sayed's visit early on in the cycle to conservative and rural Barry County, where she lives and said she has observed more Democrats jumping in to run over the years.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Democrats project unity, talk Trump at convention
