Two prominent progressives campaigned with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Saturday night, hoping to boost his candidacy in a Democratic primary that has become the next major intraparty fight.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., had earlier endorsed the former public health official in the Aug. 4 primary to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. But several other establishment Democrats — including Peters and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — are backing Rep. Hayley Stevens, D-Mich., in the primary.
It’s the first endorsement of the 2026 election cycle for Ocasio-Cortez in a contested Senate primary, while Sanders has backed dozens of candidates.
“We know why we’re here: We are here because in November, Democrats have to win a majority in Congress. We have to win a majority in the House and we have to win a majority in the Senate,” she told an enthusiastic crowd. “And we need a firewall against an administration that is hellbent on tearing down in four years what it took this country 250 years to build!”
In her lengthy speech, Ocasio-Cortez emphatically denounced the Trump administration as “corrupt” and characterized El-Sayed as the best choice for Democrats to go up against it.
“You deserve a politics that treats the disease and not just the symptoms of what brought us Donald Trump. That doesn’t negotiate with or placate corruption, but one that defeats it once and for all,” she said.
“You deserve a politics that treats the disease and not just the symptoms of what brought us Donald Trump. That doesn’t negotiate with or placate corruption, but one that defeats it once and for all.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez appeared with El-Sayed as part of their “People versus the Powerful” tour. Both have ruffled feathers among the Democratic establishment with their endorsements of progressive candidates in midterm primaries — some of whom party power-brokers think will have a weaker chance of beating Republicans in the general election.
On Saturday, the two took particular aim at spending in the Michigan primary by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful lobby group. Michigan is home to the nation’s largest Arab American population, for whom Israel’s war in Gaza – the U.S. support of it – weighs heavy
“Right now, there is a very clear choice before us. We can choose $50 million and counting in dark money, trying to buy the state of Michigan, or we can choose Dr. Abdul El-Sayed,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez was referring to the alleged amount of money AIPAC and aligned groups have spent in the Michigan Senate race. The total figure is unclear but appears to be in the tens of millions.
El-Sayed has painted his opponent as a recipient of corporate interest money. AIPAC and its members have spent at least hundreds of thousands on Stevens’ behalf, while El-Sayed has repeatedly disavowed AIPAC money.
“Why is the whole country looking at this election? In fact, people all over the world watching what’s going on here in Michigan, and the answer is that this is an election which will show the nation where the AIPAC and other billionaire-funded super PACs can spend tens and tens and tens of millions of dollars to buy a U.S. Senate seat,” Sanders told the crowd.
El-Sayed has drawn criticism, however, for campaigning with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has said “America deserved 9/11” and “Hamas is a thousand times better than Israel.”
The winner of the primary will face off against the likely Republican nominee, former congressman Mike Rogers, in November.
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