El-Sayed manages to alienate the one Michigan Democrat he can’t afford to alienate.
by David Shephard, ©2026
(Nov. 2, 2026) — I don’t know if it is due to his overconfidence or his arrogance or his political incompetence, but Michigan Democratic nominee for the Senate, Abdul El-Sayed, an antisemite and an anti-American socialist, may be on his way to blowing the election to the United States Senate. No Republican has represented Michigan since the early 2000’s, but look for that to change after Tuesday.
Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed defeated Representative Haley Stevens in a combative primary earlier this year. It was a very close race, 48.5 for El-Sayed to 47.5 for Stevens, with 4 percent for a third candidate, far closer than the pre-election polls had predicted. Well, mistakenly El-Sayed believed that he won a mandate, this despite the fact that he just barely beat Stevens and failed to get a majority. He saw his victory as proof that Michigan Democrats agreed with his anti-Israel, pro-Islamic and socialist views and the few who disagreed with him would fall in line. So, he ignored embracing Stevens and offering any concessions to her followers.
The fact is that El-Sayed had plenty of chances to unite the party by appealing to the more traditional Democrats, who still support Israel, but he was too stubborn and ideological to do it. When Cenk Uygur, a friend of El-Sayed’s and uncle of America hater Hasan Piker, who is also a friend of El-Sayed’s, produced a TV ad claiming that Israel is responsible for high grocery prices, Stevens and other Michigan Democrats called on El-Sayed to join in denouncing the ad as antisemitic. He refused. When Stevens and other Michigan Democrats called on El-Sayed to distance himself from Hasan Piker, who claimed that America deserved 911, he refused. When Stevens and other Michigan Democrats called on El-Sayed to denounce the Muslim Brotherhood, he refused.
The petty and thin-skinned El-Sayed didn’t just ignore Stevens; he started hating her. Last week, this hatred grew when Haley Stevens’s fiancé, Jason Turkish, announced that he is backing Republican Mike Rogers, and in response, Stevens acknowledged that her “household was divided” and offered only a lukewarm endorsement of El-Sayed. In response El-Sayed decided to cut Stevens out of his campaign. According to the Washington Post, his campaign reached out to Stevens on Friday night and told her that she should not “attend any events with the candidate (El-Sayed) for the remainder of the campaign.”
Well, yesterday, Haley Stevens struck back. She shocked the political world by endorsing Republican Mike Rogers for the Senate. Why did she endorse the Republican Rogers? I think there are three main reasons. First, her fiancé’s influence; second, she likes and respects Rogers and realizes that, despite their political differences, he will do a good job representing Michigan; and third, and perhaps most important, she doesn’t want an antisemite representing Michigan in the Senate.
Might Haley’s endorsement provide Rogers the margin of victory? It is possible. I think an earlier endorsement would have had more of an impact, but there are still voters in the Wolverine State who have not yet voted, and this endorsement will at the very least hurt El-Sayed’s closing message.
The fact is El-Sayed could have extended a hand of friendship to Haley and her supporters but failed to do so. He could have united the party, but he apparently found that task too humiliating.
David Shephard is a native and very proud Virginian. Raised in Fairfax County, David graduated from George Mason University and majored in Government and Politics. He spent decades in politics, campaign consulting, raising money and lobbying. He is also a longtime conservative blogger writing for numerous blogs. He is also the host of “The Virginia Gentleman Podcast.”
David is the author of Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale, and his latest book, Norton’s Choice: An Inside Politics Exposé.
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