Who Represents the Democratic Party?

Revitalizing the way campaigns are run, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed was frequently seen on social media street interviews, delivering witty and bold statements in support of his political run for the Michigan democratic senatorial primary. El-Sayed demonstrated he has much more to offer than a large internet following as the young progressive became the first Muslim candidate to be nominated by the democratic party for US senate. El-Sayed made history by beating sixty million dollars in AIPAC money. 

Abdul recalls giving a speech to less than a dozen people in April. Steadily, El-Sayed managed to deliver a powerful campaign and prompt a change of heart among Michiganders. And come November, his name will be printed on the ballots for all of Michigan. 

So how did an unlikely opponent gain traction so quickly, and more importantly, enough votes to beat an AIPAC-backed candidate?

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, first and foremost, founded his campaign on bold, clear, and concise goals. Families are broken apart every day in Michigan with more than 4,300 ICE arrests since January of 2025, his plan for ICE was simple: completely abolish it and redirect funds for an alternative immigration enforcement plan. “What we don’t have right now is a thoughtful immigration court system that actually enables people to work through the system and have a pathway to citizenship. So I think you need a targeted multi-agency task force focused specifically on enforcing in the circumstances where there is a threat to public safety,” says El-Sayed on his plan for restructuring immigration system. 

After facing Haley Stevens as his primary opponent, who had more than thirty million dollars in AIPAC funds, El-Sayed also understood the need to address campaign spending and committed to election funding caps. 

When asked why he lost Detroit in the primary election, El-Sayed tackled the issue head-on, “Think about…how much money they were able to spend to completely obliterate my record on TV…I want everybody to step back. Imagine there weren’t sixty million dollars spent in outside spending?”

El-Sayed raised this important question; one he was ready to confront in his own policies. He plans to ban outside spending, including those of SuperPACs. El-Sayed is committed to ensuring corporations no longer hold a stake in elections. He believes elections should be won by those the people vote for rather than whose donors have the biggest pockets. On account of this pledge, El-Sayed has refused any corporate funding. 

All this to say, Dr. El-Sayed brought hope to many Michigan families who continue to experience a large ICE presence in the state, lack of access to water, and the threat of new data centers in their community. 

Primarily, El-Sayed was able to reach the young voters through his strategies for combating these issues. He swept the counties that were made up of at least thirty percent of a population aged 18-34. 

Interestingly, El-Sayed was not able to secure counties with large Black populations. Although Black voters are majorly democrat, many did not identify as much with El-Sayed compared to the more familiar candidate, Haley Stevens. 

Which raises another question. Are new progressive candidates appealing enough to swing more moderate democrats onto their side? And is this recent win enough to expect more progressive democrats in office?

Michigan’s neighbor, Wisconsin, too had a narrow battle between the familiar, moderately democrat candidates and the new, trailblazing progressives. Francesca Hong, who ran for Wisconsin governor, took on a democratic socialist approach. Her platform was based on an expanded healthcare system, addressing labor issues, and a commitment of housing for all. 

Hong became appealing to many voters and with El-Sayed’s win the week beforehand, many supporters were certain of her success. Though when faced with David Crowley, a widely-known and more traditional moderate Democrat, Hong was defeated. 

So what made Hong different from El-Sayed? The answer, in a broad sense, is very little. 

Hong lost by less than one percent and El-Sayed won by around the same. 

The reality is, these are incredibly narrow wins and losses. While El-Sayed’s victory was celebrated by many progressive voters, his margin of victory and Hong’s loss reveal that the struggle to transform the democratic party remains neck-and-neck. 

This coming November, El-Sayed will face republican candidate, Mike Rogers. Rogers, who recently launched a “Democrats for Rogers” campaign, is targeting that all-too familiar margin in which democrats are not yet sure in which direction their party is heading. This electoral race is a call to action to all Democrat voters across the U.S. In this pivotal moment in US politics, in a time where a major party appears to be on the brink of a big change and Zohran Mamdani among many others have completely changed voters’ perspectives on what progressive politics look like, November primaries will leave their mark on US politics.

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