The Clever Michigan Senate Trick No One Saw Coming

If the issue weren't so serious, one would have to laugh at what's played out over the last couple of weeks between Michigan Democrat Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and his primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11).

There was the pro-El-Sayed antisemitic ad put out by Rebellion PAC, which was co-founded by leftist Young Turks online show co-creator Cenk Uygur. As it turns out, he also happens to be the uncle of radical Twitch streamer Hasan "America deserved 9/11" Piker, who endorsed and campaigned with El-Sayed extensively and also hosted him on his show. Mike Rogers, the GOP nominee in the race, has nicknamed Piker El-Sayed's "running mate," in part over his refusal to distance himself from him.

Stevens condemned the ad, stating that "This type of fearmongering about Israel is wrong. It is not a winning strategy for any state. It does nothing to help Michigan Democrats win up and down the ballot in eight days." Others called on El-Sayed to do the same. He refused. The short statement put out by his campaign in response to it didn't denounce the ad. It simply noted that "No one speaks for Abdul but himself and his campaign."

Then it was learned later in the week that Stevens' fiancé, Jason Turkish, will be voting for Rogers. Here’s how she responded to the revelation:

“Like a lot of households in America, we’re a household divided,” she told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “I still very much want our Democratic nominee, his name is Abdul, to win this race.”

But during the same interview, she remarked El-Sayed hadn't done nearly enough to persuade undecided voters, particularly in the Jewish and black communities, and that he could go a long way toward doing so by condemning the Rebellion PAC ad and pulling the one ad the campaign put out that featured praise from Tucker Carlson.

And on Friday morning, Stevens made an announcement stating that she and El-Sayed would be appearing together at a Detroit church on Sunday alongside former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (SC-06), who she said was the meeting’s facilitator. It was conditional on him making those condemnations and denouncements, as well as apologizing for assertions made while on the campaign trail, assertions that she pointed out were similar to what was seen in that Rebellion PAC ad:

“The standard here is simple. If those words are wrong when a Political Action Committee supporting his campaign says them, then they are equally wrong when Abdul says them, and Abdul has said them from the start. I therefore expect him to apologize for those statements as well.”

[…]

And she said it is her “hope and expectation” that El-Sayed will take down a campaign ad featuring Tucker Carlson out of “respect for Michigan’s Black community,” calling the advertisement “an insult to the congregation that will welcome us on Sunday.”

As I read that along with her full statement, I thought to myself, "She knows he's not going to go along with this." She had to, because that's what he's been doing his entire campaign: refusing to do the right thing because the man Democrats need him to be to get him over the finish line and into the Senate in a state like Michigan is not the man he really is. He has told them and us this over and over again.

He is a MINO - a Michigander In Name Only, in my very humble opinion. His heart and ideals align with America's enemies, not with the people of Michigan.

Stevens has been a loyal Democrat, presumably for most of her adult life, a party-line girl all the way. So coming out and saying outright, "vote for Mike Rogers like my fiancé is doing," is not something she can bring herself to do, despite the fact that she undoubtedly knows what the "Michigan Mamdani" (as the National Republican Senatorial Committee calls him) will bring to the table if elected. 

So the next best thing she can do is to further expose him by making sure any voters who don't know down the homestretch are made aware that, at the end of the day, he's not interested in moderating his radical stances for concerned Jewish voters or apprehensive black voters who typically vote for Democrats.

It's a shrewd move, and one that Rogers instantly recognized:

When people tell you who they are, believe them. Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign has been based on vile racism and antisemitism, funded by groups who support terrorism, and designed to divide and blame. 

As I said the day after the primary, if you believe Michigan can have a future where we can all come together, you have a home with us. 

I say today: if you are a Haley Stevens voter who rejects this bigoted and hateful candidate, you have a home with us. If you believe we can all work together to make housing affordable, improve education and, lower gas prices, you have a home with us. 

Let’s Get to Work.

As I suggested before, please put this race on your must-watch list on Election Night. It's one of the most important, if not the most important, ones out there to pay attention to - not just because of what it could mean for Senate control, but what it could also mean for the future of our great country.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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