Abdul El-Sayed’s Argument for America—and Against His Own Party
The Michigan U.S. Senate candidate on campaigning with Hasan Piker, being a capitalist, and why his fellow-Democrats need to “stop compromising.”
Abdul El-Sayed, a forty-one-year-old son of Egyptian immigrants, is running for the U.S. Senate in Michigan. If elected, he would be the first Muslim to serve in the Senate. His opponent in the primary, Haley Stevens, is a former Obama Administration official with strong support from the Democratic Party establishment, including endorsements from Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Stevens has also spent sixty million dollars on ads, while El-Sayed has spent significantly less. In a recent primary, polls suggest that El-Sayed is leading Stevens, but in a general election, he trails by ten points. However, El-Sayed is leading among younger voters. During a commencement speech at the University of Michigan in 2007, Bill Clinton encouraged El-Sayed to pursue a career in politics, despite his initial reluctance.
El-Sayed's political philosophy emphasizes rebuilding systems rather than "burning them down," as some critics have suggested.
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